The Mountain Between Us
2017 · Directed by Hany Abu-Assad
Original language: English
- drama
- adventure
- romance
The story
Stranded on a mountain after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must work together to endure the extreme elements of the remote, snow-covered terrain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across hundreds of miles of wilderness, pushing each other to survive and discovering their inner strength.
What it’s like
Vast, blinding white landscapes under flat, hard sunlight, with the snowfields and rock faces filling the frame in wide, unhurried compositions that make the characters look small against the mountains. Much of the look is clean and glossy digital, with cool blues and bleached whites in the high-altitude scenes and warmer, softer tones once the story moves into forest and lower ground. The camera stays fairly steady and intimate on the two leads, lingering on faces, breath and the slow grind of walking through deep snow. The score is orchestral and swelling, with the quieter passages carried by sparse strings and wind. Vibe: earnest, windswept, quietly romantic, best suited to a long-haul flight, a cold afternoon on the sofa, or a comfort watch with a blanket. The pace is measured, building through long stretches of endurance to tender, slowly deepening scenes between two strangers who gradually open up to each other. Intensity is moderate: a plane crash opens the film and there are some injuries and a few tense, frightening moments on the ice, including a wildlife encounter, but the violence is brief and not graphic. For viewers who want a survival story with a romantic core and a gentle emotional arc rather than relentless peril.
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