‘Cold Meat’ review: Dir. Sébastien Drouin [FrightFest 2023]

It may be summer and warm in London where Pigeon Shrine FrightFest is currently happening, but Sébastien Drouin’s Cold Meat has left audiences chilled to the core. Set around Christmas, Cold Meat is anything but festive, Drouin going hard at filling his film with uncomfortable dread and the constant threat of violence. 

Cold Meat joins lone-driver David (Allen Leech) who, after helping waitress Ana (Nina Bergamn) with her violent ex-husband, Vincent (Yan Tual), sets out into a blizzard. A momentary lapse of concentration causes him to crash. With a severely injured leg, David is trapped in his car with freezing conditions closing in. But David is not as alone as he seems to be… The reveal of his companion flips everything seen before on its head and leaves the viewer kicking themselves for not having picked up on the little clues. Rather than being Ana’s knight in shining armour, David is her next would-be captor, the crash presenting the frantic woman a means of escape. Of course, being isolated in freezing conditions leaves her with only one option, to stay caught, with David. 

In keeping the bulk of the action contained with David’s car, Drouin achieves maximum levels of claustrophobia. The space itself is small, and it is made more intense with the snow outside trapping the two leads. The tiny interior also means that Ana has no choice but to be in very close quarters with her assailant. As they try to forge an uneasy stalemate the pair converse, Ana getting the opportunity that so many victims do not. She begins interrogating David, trying to understand him. He shares his story, but the audience can never shake the sensation that David is toying with Ana. This cat and mouse game is stiflingly intense and leads to some interesting revelations and connections.

With so little else to distract the audience, the success of Cold Meat rests with the viability of the characters, which in turn is the responsibility of Leech and Nergman. Both are very good, the audience instantly connects to Ana and David before having to reassess their feelings toward David. Bergman plays Ana as scrappy. Ana is a woman with a strong background of abuse, be that domestic, psychological or other. Having weathered so much prior to her encounter has gifted her the resilience needed to cope with her current ordeal without losing it. Bergman infuses Ana with sheer grit, will, and determination to survive, something the audience can identify with. 

Though there is a fire within Ana, that is lacking in David. In contrast he is calm and emotion-light, Leech playing the character very much like the cold meat that the title mentions. From the moment he appears on screen, Leech captures the viewer’s attention. The switch from ‘good’ David to ‘terrifying’ David is so fluid that the viewer doesn’t see it coming till it has already happened. It is Leech’s performance that accurately highlights how serial killers manage to amass so many victims. They are the world’s best actors, placing victims at ease, right up until the bitter end. That Leech himself embodies this persona so well is in itself a little disconcerting, but in reality, a testament to his talents. 

Cold Meat marks the feature debut for Drouin whose career in the film industry has until now been focused on visual effect work. That he has chosen Cold Meat for his debut, a film which relies on very little digital flourishes, is an interesting decision. It is a gamble that pays off though, the claustrophobic setting drawing the viewer in, the character work doing the rest. The addition of some excellent make-up work that shows the trapped pair slowly losing their battle against the extreme temperatures, builds into the real-world feel of the film. Cold Meat presents a crisp, claustrophobic spin on the serial killer thriller that will keep its audience riveted till its chilling conclusion.

Cold Meat was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2023. Signature Entertainment presents Cold Meat on Digital Platforms coming in 2024.