Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds are two of our greatest treasures, and it’s a treat to spend a lovely 90 minutes with them in Midwinter Break. Directed by theatre veteran Polly Findlay and based on Bernard MacLaverty’s book, this slow burn drama centers on Stella and Gerry, empty nesters in their 60s and 70s who take a relevatory getaway to Amsterdam. It’s the kind of quietly magnificent film that asks you to sit with it patiently, absorbing the myriad of emotions expressed by its wonderful leads. The reward is that it will then sit with you long after the credits have rolled.
Midwinter Break is a little like the senior version of Richard Linklater’s ‘Before’ series, but it resembles Before Midnight most of all. Stella and Gerry lead a simple life in Glasgow, Scotland, after fleeing Ireland following a violent episode during The Troubles (Hinds recently starred in Belfast which also dealt with The Troubles). They don’t really talk about it, though, even as it nearly cost Stella her life and the life of their son, now an adult and parent of his own. They don’t see him much, if at all. While still close, they are more like neighbors than a married couple. Stella goes to church, and has grown more devout over the years. Gerry likes the comforts of his chair, and a good drink. A lot of good drinks. It’s a problem, but they dare not speak of it. They’ve settled into a routine that, while hardly unpleasant, isn’t nurturing enough to sustain a marriage.
During one lonely evening, Stella decides to shake things up by buying them tickets to Amsterdamn. Gerry thinks it’s a wonderful idea. One of the great things about Midwinter Break is that it isn’t a movie about a marriage that is crumbling in some overtly theatrical way. Gerry and Stella love one another, and they show it quite often. They hold hands, they crack jokes, they offer one another sweets, and they even have little sayings just for them: “You and Me”, “Me and You”, they toast one another.
At the same time, they don’t really speak to one another, not about anything substantial. They seem to be living out the end of their lives and just sort of waiting for it to go dark. Walking through the picturesque beauty of Amsterdam in winter, the gap between Gerry and Stella becomes clearer. Visits to a Catholic commune and to the Anne Frank House reveal just how different they are now at this latter stage of their lives.
The tension between Gerry and Stella doesn’t play out in huge fights or dramatic demonstrations. Cruel words occasionally pass their lips, often veiled in humor, but the points still sting. The choices they are forced to make are small but powerful, and will either tear them apart or drive them closer together. It’s to the screenplay’s credit that we’re never quite sure which until the very end, and are compelled to find out. The lingering mystery is held on for too long, the confrontational conversation emerging in the film’s final moments, making it feel unnecessarily rushed. Fortunately, Midwinter Break has Hinds and Manville to lean on, and they are extraordinary. These two can say more with their eyes than most actors can with their entire bodies. Together, they will have you contemplating what your own life will look like in the golden years, and they’ll probably have you wanting to book a trip to Amsterdam, hopefully with less weighty concerns to grapple with.
Midwinter Break is in theaters now from Focus Features.
