A Long Winter review: hope, desire and subversion in Andrew Haigh’s winter western
Andrew Haigh’s new film follows a family on a remote Colorado farmstead after the disappearance of its mother. Adapted from a story by Colm Tóibín, the film shifts the setting from the 1930s Spanish Pyrenees to Colorado around the time of the Korean war, examining grief, desire and the isolation of men without women.
Andrew Haigh’s “A Long Winter” is adapted from Colm Tóibín’s 2006 story and relocates its action from the 1930s Spanish Pyrenees to the wintry landscapes of Colorado around the time of the Korean war.
The film follows a family on a remote farmstead whose mother has gone missing as they wait for the snow to melt. Lester, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, is a hardened farmer who makes a precarious living breeding rabbits for meat and fur.
His son Tommy, played by Kit Connor, is leaving for military service, while his shy brother Mikey, played by Fred Hechinger, has secret gay longings. The review describes the film as a study of grief and desire, with cinematography by André Turpin.
THE QUESTIONS THIS EVENT LEAVES BEHIND
What circumstances surrounding the mother’s disappearance are left unspecified?
How might Tommy’s departure alter the balance of power within the family?
What conditions shape Mikey’s access to expressions of desire beyond the magazines he sees?
How would the family’s choices differ if the winter ended sooner?
Who controls the family’s economic security through the livestock and rabbit business?
YOUR QUESTION
Does this story leave you with another question?
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GLOBAL CURIOSITY MAP · AUGUST 2026