Mind of Winter

An unknown horror hovers just out of reach in this gripping psychological thriller from Kasischke (The Raising). One snowy Christmas morning in a Detroit suburb, Holly Judge and her 15-year-old daughter, Tatiana, prepare for the holiday while her husband, Eric Clare, drives to the airport to fetch his aging parents. The day reminds Holly of a Christmas 13 years earlier, when she and Eric traveled to Siberia to adopt Tatiana, who was then two years old. Holly is now convinced that Tatiana is not the child they first saw. "Something had followed them home from Russia," becomes Holly's mantra, as she blames Tatiana for her stalled writing career and general malaise. Is Tatiana evil or a typical sullen teenager? A storm that grows into a raging blizzard mirrors Holly's intensifying anxiety, turning their isolated home into a haunted house from which there's no escape. Kasischke skillfully mixes an insightful look at a damaged woman with a twisty plot that builds to a shocking ending. Agent: Lisa Bankoff, ICM. (Apr.)