Winter’s Bone—Lionsgate (Blu-ray)

Video: 4/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 2.5/5

Seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly sets out to track down her father, who put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared. If she fails, Ree and her family will be turned out into the Ozark woods. Challenging her outlaw kin's code of silence and risking her life, Ree hacks through the lies, evasions and threats offered up by her relatives and begins to piece together the truth. Based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell.

Lionsgate delivers a solid presentation for this cold looking film. Colors are a bit desaturated giving the film a bit of a muted look. Detail is still crisp though and the photography doesn’t pull a lot of tricks. Contrast levels are strong with nice black levels and plenty of shadow detail. The soundtrack relies heavily on mood and the score and subtle ambiance of the film play together nicely.

Extras include a feature commentary with the director and the director of photography. You also get a look at the production of the film with interviews and on-set footage along with some deleted scenes.

I’d heard a lot of buzz about this one before I got it in for review. This is a pretty bleak film but it features some great performances from its mostly unknown cast and will definitely unnerve its viewers. Definitely worth a look.

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