Nearly every Christmas film hinges on a seasonal, often kitschy surge of sentimentality in the final act. But for all the reunions, reconciliations and promises of renewal that occur at the end of the year, there is something to be said for the filmmakers who tap the rest of the winter months’ potential as a backdrop for introspective, humanist storytelling.

Winter is a deceptively intimate time of year. It brings a heightened awareness of nature’s harshness and the contrast of warm,hellip;

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