Scarlet Winter – Review

Scarlet Winter is an ambitious little noir that really goes for it with its fractured storytelling. It doesn’t always hit the emotional beats it’s aiming for, but it’s stylish, tense, and has a satisfying slow-burn paranoia.

The film throws you straight in: Mark (Gregory Waits) wakes up to a scene of absolute horror—his lover Naomi (Sophie Moshofsky) dead in bed. Panic sets in, but before we can fully process it, we’re yanked backwards and sideways through time, seeing how his messy affair with Naomi put him on this path and how his already-strained marriage to Sidney (Nadine van Asbeck) starts to unravel even further. It’s all cut together in a way that keeps you guessing, and while it’s not as polished as something like Memento, it’s a solid attempt at a non-linear noir.  

Munjal Yagnik, making his directorial debut, embraces this non-linear structure with confidence, throwing the audience into a jigsaw puzzle of betrayal and paranoia before gradually revealing a more structured flashback-driven story. It doesn’t always land emotionally, but it’s stylish, well-crafted, and does just enough to keep you engaged.  

Visually, it’s got a cold, clinical feel, which works well with the story—icy exteriors, dimly lit rooms, and a creeping sense of isolation, and the score does a great job of making you feel the walls closing in. Gregory Waits is solid as Mark, though his character could’ve done with a bit more emotional depth—he doesn’t seem quite as shaken as you’d expect for a guy in his position. But Ryan Hope Travis as his dodgy mate Richie brings a bit of grit to the second half, and the final act really dials up the tension.  Overall the performances are solid, but I didn’t really find my self caring about anything and wasn’t surprised the relationship with Sidney was on the rocks.

The end works fairly well, although I felt it didn’t matter and without it, nothing that happens to Mark would have been any different.

Scarlet Winter is a solid debut—atmospheric, intriguing, and stylish, even if it sometimes prioritises its puzzle-box structure over deeper character moments. It might not be a genre classic, but it’s a rewarding watch for those who enjoy films that make you piece things together.  So, if you like noir thrillers that play around with structure and perspective, it’s definitely worth a watch.  

This frosty thriller has been making waves at film festivals around the world and is now set for its UK debut on digital 10 February from Miracle Media