Filmed in a photogenic but seldom shot-in corner of England (near Lynton and Lynmouth and assorted wild, rocky and wave-splashed bits in Devon), with a cast of barely knowns and a budget raised independently, Winter Ridge is the kind of plucky, low-budget British feature one so wants to like. If only it weren’t so achingly middling to its core with decidedly shabby edges, like something acquired in a package deal by a desperate distributor in the last days of the film market at Cannes.
Matt Hookings stars as Ryan, a detective constable in a small town that is experiencing an unexpected surge in mysterious deaths of elderly people. Although Ryan seems an especially dim-witted officer, eventually he starts to suspect this may be the work of a serial killer. Or perhaps the elders are being knocked off by (try not to laugh) the local vicar, after he has convinced them to leave their money to help repair the church before they go to the big pew in the sky.
Admittedly, Ryan’s judgment may be off due to his grief – his wife was left in a coma after a car accident, caused by an angry local drunk (played by the reliable Scots character actor Ian Pirie, one of the film’s few redeeming features). There’s also something fishy about the icy blond psychiatrist who treats patients with dementia, perhaps because she is played by Hannah Waddingham, an actor hardcore Game of Thrones fans will remember from season six when she played the evil Septa Unella, a nun-like zealot who marched Cersei Lannister through the streets chanting: “Shame! Shame!”
The final who-and-why-reveal is so loopy and absurd, it almost makes the film worth watching – but only if you have a taste for generic crime drama. All the same, Joao da Silva pulls out the stops with some classy cinematography.
