The Day After Tomorrow and 4 Other Best Sci-Fi Movies With Winter Vibes
The end of the world, ancient monsters and, of course, aliens.
When there is not enough snow outside, the temperature seems too high, and what is happening outside the window seems too real, it is enough to turn on a winter sci-fi movie to dissolve in the cold breath of a frightening dystopia.
1. Troll Hunter, 2010
In the snow-covered forests of Norway, there has been a recent spate of bear killings. Three student filmmakers blame poachers and decide to make an investigative documentary.
They meet hunter Hans, a mysterious and suspicious loner who knows more about the secrets of the forest than he is willing to tell on camera.
Contrary to the students' beliefs, Hans turns out to be no villain, but a real hunter of trolls – bloodthirsty creatures that have lived in Norway since time immemorial. The teenagers soon realize that they are not just dealing with a fairy tale about forest monsters coming to life, but with a real threat.
2. Dreamcatcher, 2003
Stephen King adaptations often face an unusual paradox: either the author or the audience likes the movie. Lawrence Kasdan took on Dreamcatcher as an avid fan of both King and the adaptations of his work.
But neither King's name in the credits nor the star-studded cast helped Dreamcatcher at the box office – the movie flopped, and Kasdan found the strength to return to filmmaking only nine years later.
The film tells the story of four friends. As boys, they rescued a boy named Duddits and received supernatural powers, and since then they have been forever bound by the bonds of friendship. Every winter, they gather in a cabin to hunt. But the next gathering may be the last – an alien evil has appeared in the woods.
3. The Colony, 2013
Jeff Renfroe's The Colony is a worthy example of a winter post-apocalypse. The machines designed to control the climate suddenly failed, and life on Earth turned into an endless snowy nightmare. The survivors hide in underground shelters, where every day is a new struggle for survival.
One of these settlements, called Colony 7, receives a distress signal from a neighboring bunker. Those who set out on a rescue mission find Colony 5 in a deplorable state: there are no inhabitants, only chaos and blood.
The lone survivor, hiding behind an armored door, reveals a terrible truth: a tribe of crazy cannibals have made their way into the shelter.
4. Snowpiercer, 2013
Snowpiercer combines post-apocalyptic eco-fiction and dystopia. An ice age, the result of humanity's attempts to control the weather, has frozen the planet for many years. The few survivors find themselves on a train that rushes endlessly along a planetary ring railway.
But inside the carriages there is a strict hierarchy: the rich live in luxury closer to the locomotive, while the poor, who do all the work, sit in the back, fueled by protein plates and anger. When a representative of the top takes several children from the last wagons, an uprising begins.
5. The Day After Tomorrow, 2004
The Day After Tomorrow became an exemplary disaster movie; no one had destroyed the planet with such zeal before: the movie found room for giant tornadoes, multi-day rains, and a new ice age.
The plot centers on Jack, a climatologist who predicted climate collapse. As the world destroys, Jack discovers that his son Sam is trapped in New York, which is setting records for subzero temperatures. The father embarks on a perilous journey through the snowy desert to rescue Sam.