Three men put in a Russian labor camp escape and try to find their way through the wilderness to make it back home.
Written by Derek Barnes, James McDougall, and Douglas Nyback, and directed by Barnes, Whiteout takes place almost entirely outdoors (after the initial arrest sequence and some labor camp ones), bringing the wilderness in the story as a sort of additional character, one that is constantly looming over the characters as they try to survive it and each other. The writing here is good and has some truly great scenes here and there, but there are a few dull moments and one or two that make the viewer wonder why include them. Overall, though, the writing is decent and so is the direction, creating tension, anxiety, and stress for the characters and the viewers. Those characters are mostly well written but could have used a few more elements to them to make them connect to viewers more, perhaps in an emotional manner. That being said, the writing is good, and the direction works here.
The cast here is good, giving stressed and anxious performances. Leads James McDougall, Douglas Nyback, and Joel Labelle put in performances that sell the film and make one feel like the wilderness is scary, and perhaps winning at times, giving the viewer performances that work and that do make them want to see what comes next. While the characters oftentimes lack any sort of positive element, they do bring the viewer into the world they are trying to survive. The acting works on that very well.
The film cinematography here is both great at times and too dark at others, making it a frustrating watch. The main frustration does come from some of the scenes being so well shot, so well-lit that when the lights go and the scenes could use a good reflector or perhaps a bit more calculated, artificial lighting but don’t get it, it’s a bit puzzling as to why not. The cinematography here is by Russ de Jong (and team) is uneven in terms of how carefully done it is and when it is well done, it’s great, so it makes the not-as-well-done sequences that much more obvious.
Whiteout succeeds greatly in some parts and falters in others. There are some pacing issues and some lighting issues which become especially frustrating when the rest of the film is so on point. The performances work well and do help a ton here, but some of the characters lack in likability which even bad guys need a little of to make the film connect with viewers better. The film as a whole works quite well even with these small issues and the ending does offer a satisfying payoff that does lead to questions about what came before so leads to making the film one that is rewatchable at least a few times to connect all the dots but without making the viewer feel dumb for missing some of the dots or some of the red herrings.