WINTER OF THE CROW – Review by Monique Jones

Kasia Adamik’s Winter of the Crow, co-written by Adamik, Sandra Buchta and Lucinda Coxon, is a tight thriller that intrigues as much as it paints a picture of bleak political events in 1980s Poland. Lesley Manville is an actress who is never given roles to truly show her talents. Thankfully, Winter of the Crow is one of the projects where Manville is able to showcase her gifts by portraying a layered character who grows amid harsh adversity. Her character, Joan Andrews, starts out as cold as the Polish winter landscape, but she soon realizes that not everything is about her; while she does carry trauma, she seems to realize that others are carrying just as much trauma, and it would behoove her to think about their plights as well as her own.

Her co-star, Zofia Wichlacz, is great as Alina, the student who asks Joan to speak at her university. Alina seems a little airy at first, but we soon understand how deeply devoted she is to freedom fighting, constantly putting her life at risk to take a stand. Her relationship with Joan deepens as they get to know each other, but interestingly enough, it’s when Joan is by herself and learns more about what Alina’s fate could be that she really becomes hyperfocused on making sure Alina is safe from harm.

Winter of the Crow is a film that will quickly draw you in and make you reckon with pride and privilege in a subtle, but arresting way.