EDGE OF WINTER (Rob Connolly). 89 minutes. Opens Friday (August 19). See listing. Rating: NNN

Edge Of Winter is a tightly focused drama about a struggling dad who takes his sons to a cabin in the back country for some winter bonding, only to see it all go terribly wrong. 

In his feature debut, director/co-writer Rob Connolly gets strong performances from the entire cast, but the whole thing comes down to the interplay between his leads.

Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad’s Rick Flag) is terrific as the fraying father, and Tom Holland (Marvel’s new Spider-Man) gives great texture to his ambivalent eldest, who’s torn between filial loyalty and the need to protect his younger brother (Between’s Percy Hynes White) as their situation deteriorates. 

There’s a shift in perspective around the hour mark that doesn’t work as elegantly as it should, but the cast carry it over the hump. 

And, honestly, after this summer’s miserable heat wave, spending an hour and a half watching people panic in the frigid Sudbury landscapes is weirdly comforting.