Arrows in the Snow (2023)
| Arrows in the Snow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Arthur Caillat |
| Written by | Bentram Wood |
| Produced by | Willow Preston |
| Starring | |
Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | Zamastan |
| Language | Caticeze-English |
| Budget | ℤ43 million |
| Box office | ℤ462 million |
Arrows in the Snow is a 2023 Zamastanian neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by Arthur Caillat. It stars Adrien Dupuy, Darryl Harper, and Avianna Riley. Set in rural Pahl, the story follows brothers Ethan and Kyle Russell, who, along with Kyle's friend Hayden, discover a crashed plane containing millions of dollars. The three men and Ethan's wife Emmalyn go to great lengths to keep the money a secret but begin to doubt each other's trust, resulting in lies, deceit and murder. The film was met with critical acclaim and it was nominated for 7 awards at the 97th Tofino Film Festival, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Dupuy), Best Supporting Actor (Harper), and Best Supporting Actress (Riley).
Plot
Ethan Russell and his pregnant wife Emmalyn live in rural Pahl, 60 miles east of Duncan near the town of Rosbonear. One of the town's few college graduates, Ethan works as a bookkeeper at a feed mill, while Emmalyn is a librarian. Ethan; his older brother Kyle, who has learning difficulties; and their friend Hayden Lloyd chase a fox into the woods, and stumble upon a crashed airplane. Ethan decides to look inside the plane where he discovers a dead pilot and a bag containing ℤ4.4 million in ℤ100 bills. He suggests turning the money in, but Hayden and Kyle persuade him not to. Ethan then proposes that he keep the money safe at his house until the end of winter when the snow will melt and the plane will be found. At that point, if no one talks about missing money, they will take their share and move away.
Officer Aiden Hart drives by the area and notices the three men after they've hidden the money in Kyle's pickup truck. At Hayden's suggestion, Kyle attempts to avoid suspicion by mentioning hearing a plane nearby. Ethan becomes worried but they return to their truck. After Aiden leaves, the three men decide to keep the money a secret, but Ethan breaks the pact when he reveals the discovery to Emmalyn.
Emmalyn suggests that Ethan return a small portion of the money to the plane to avoid suspicion from local authorities. She insists that he should go alone, but Ethan takes Kyle with him. Ethan walks through the woods to the plane while Kyle waits at the car pretending to change the tire. Elderly farmer Lee Pollard approaches Kyle on a snowmobile and asks him if he came across a fox that ran off with a chicken. Kyle, thinking that their cover is blown, bludgeons Lee. Thinking Lee is dead, Ethan tells Kyle they need to split up and meet later whilst he moves the body. But Lee regains consciousness, so Ethan suffocates him. He then uses the snowmobile to drive the body off a bridge, making the murder resemble an accidental death.
While searching newspaper clippings at the library, Emmalyn finds out that the money was a ransom for a kidnapped heiress from Michigan, who was abducted by two brothers, Stephen and Blake Macdonald. Emmalyn surmises that the dead pilot was one of the brothers, as the ransom was delivered, but the whereabouts of the two brothers remain unknown.
The following night, Hayden drunkenly demands his portion of the money from Ethan, because he is broke and has spent recklessly since the discovery. When Ethan refuses, Hayden threatens to go to the authorities, having learned from Kyle about Lee's murder. Ethan lies to Hayden, telling him that the money is not inside his house. He gives him ℤ40 to appease him and calms him down by telling him that they are in this together.
After giving birth to their daughter, Amanda, Emmalyn advises Ethan to frame Hayden for Lee's murder by getting him drunk, tricking him into falsely confessing to the killing and recording the confession. The plan works, although Kyle is dismayed and reluctant to betray his friend. Hayden grows enraged when he realizes that they have conspired against him, and he pulls a shotgun on Ethan. Kyle then grabs his hunting rifle and after a tense standoff, kills Hayden to save Ethan. Ethan then tries to calm Hayden's wife Lilly, who gets another gun and shoots at Ethan, who in turn kills her with Hayden's shotgun. Ethan stages the scene to make it look like Hayden shot Lilly and was about to shoot him. He and Kyle tell the police this story, and successfully avoid arrest and suspicion.
Because Kyle mentioned hearing a plane in the woods, Aiden asks the brothers to assist ZIS agent Owen Michael in a search for the missing aircraft. Ethan and Kyle meet with Owen and Aiden at the police station. Emmalyn is immediately skeptical of Owen, suspecting he is actually Blake Macdonald, posing as an ZIS agent to recover the money for himself. When she discovers this to be true, she calls to warn Ethan, who steals a revolver and a handful of bullets from Aiden's office. The four men head into the woods and split up. When he finds the plane, Owen kills Aiden, and forces Ethan to retrieve the money from the plane. Ethan manages to distract Owen with the small amount of money he had returned to the plane before then shooting and killing Owen.
Ethan starts to concoct another story to tell the authorities, but Kyle tells him that he does not want to live with the memories of what they have done, asking Ethan to kill him and frame Owen for it. When Ethan refuses, he threatens to commit suicide, which would implicate them both in the conspiracy. After weighing the decision, a heartbroken Ethan kills Kyle with Owen's pistol. At the police station, Ethan tells his rehearsed story to real ZIS agents. He is cleared of any wrongdoing and is told that many of the serial numbers on the bills used in the ransom were written down to track the cash, so the bills making up that cash could not in any case realistically be spent without the individual eventually being caught. Ethan returns home and burns it all, leaving Emmalyn distraught. In a closing narration, Ethan reflects on his losses. Although he tries to move on with his life, the murders constantly haunt him.
Cast
- Adrien Dupuy as Ethan Russell
- Darryl Harper as Kyle Russell
- Avianna Riley as Emmalyn Russell
- Cayden Stafford as Hayden Lloyd
- Channing Elliott as Blake Macdonald / ZIS Agent Owen Michael
- Kadrick Waters as Officer Aiden Hart
- Yanaye Beasley as Lilly Lloyd
- Chamaun Moss as Lee Pollard