Boreas 1.8 - Ashes

Boreas - Ashes

Genre: Thriller / Drama

Director: Mark Romanek

Writer: Ann Morrow

Cast: Merritt Wever, Thomasin McKenzie, Shea Whigham, Lars Mikkelsen, Mikael Persbrandt, Ben McKenzie, Sunny Suljic, Alistair Petrie, Pilou Asbaek, Dennis Haysbert and Nina Hoss

Plot: Richard (Alistair Petrie) is reporting back to Erik (Lars Mikkelsen) and Mr. Thompson (Dennis Haysbert) about the battle and he says it has been a huge success. They lost some troops for sure, but the enemy has been defeated. Thompson asks if they found their leader and Richard says he is nowhere to be found, but they’ll look for him. Erik adds that it’s a must they find him, he needs to pay for what he has done. They dismiss Richard and turn around, but they hear a scream coming from behind. Gunnar (Pilou Asbaek) snuck from behind and killed Richard. Erik grabs his gun and kills Gunnar before he gets to them.

Emily (Thomasin McKenzie) sits in the house bored and looks by the window barely seeing anything because of the blizzard. She focuses on the horizon and she sees something coming. She tries to see what it is, but can’t discern any details. Unsure of what to do next, she decides to stay awake and keep an eye out. She notices something else and thinks she saw people outside. The blizzard decreases in intensity and she sees people getting close the house and she recognizes their clothes, it’s the scavengers again. She grabs the rifle resting next to her and she starts shooting to scare them, screaming at them to go away, they already stole everything from her.

Bernhard (Mikael Persbrandt) leads the way for Frank (Shea Whigham) and Spencer (Ben McKenzie) and they sneak around the burned village, walking over the ashes of what used to be an impressive men-made village. Bernhard wants to lead Frank and Spencer to Alice, so he enters the barrack where he saw her last, but he notices that everyone is gone. He sees Nora (Nina Hoss) on the ground. He asks her what happened here and he says someone entered. She allowed everyone else to escape and fought back, but he got her good. He asks what happened to the woman and her son and she says they left before everyone else and went into the forest. Nora is of no use anymore as she dies in Bernhard’s arms. He says he loved her with all his heart, but there’s no time to cry for her tonight, he has unfinished business as the facility. Spencer and Frank say that wasn’t the deal and Bernhard says they better listen to him or else he’ll make sure they’ll never see Alice and Jimmy again. Besides, they better behave, because he doesn’t think Erik and the other mysterious man will be too happy to learn they’re helping the enemy. Bernhard says they’ll cut through the mountains, it’ll go faster. They’re concerned about his leg and he says he’ll be alright. 

Alice (Merritt Wever) and Jimmy (Sunny Suljic) are walking in the forest, exhausted from their day and from dragging the snow with their feet, but Alice is reassuring as she knows they’re getting close. They hear some non reassuring noise in front of them and Alice has a flash. They’re getting close to home and she hears gunshots. Her daughter must be there. Like any mother would, the feeling that her daughter is in danger lights a fire within her and she grabs Jimmy on her back and starts running. She gets closer to the house and she sees dead bodies on the ground and trails of blood leading to the house. She hears gunshots and feels bullets hitting targets near her. Emily, perched behind the second floor window, shoots everything in sight, which is mostly shapes, because of the ongoing blizzard. Emily sets her target and she doesn’t realises it’s her mother. She keeps shooting, but misses the target. Alice can’t see who’s shooting, but she wants to go back into her house. As she runs to the front porch, a bullet hits Jimmy in the shoulder and he goes down in pain. Alice drags him inside and screams for Emily to get down if that’s even her. Emily runs down the stairs and starts to cry when she sees she shot her brother. Alice says these people mean no harm they just got attacked. In fact, the ones who were not shot by Emily simply ran past the house and deeper into the woods. Alice asks for her sewing kit so she can remove the bullet from Jimmy’s shoulder. 

During this time, Frank and Spencer decide to leave Bernhard behind, he can’t keep up with them and they say they’ll be back for him. He says he’ll do his best to survive. Frank doesn’t realise that Bernhard stole his gun. They climb the mountain side and reach the facility. Most people are back from the battle and wondering what the hell happen. They both sneak around and try not to be seen by the guards as they enter the garage to get some snowmobiles. They are surprised to see Erik there who wants head out and look for Bernhard. He asks if they are really the ones they sent to help him and they both lie and say they do. Erik says he isn’t going to lie and he hoped they sent other people. They each get a snowmobile and leave in the blizzard. Spencer and Frank do their best to lose Erik, but he’s able to follow them. Spencer wants to get Bernhard, he’s the only one who knows where Alice and Jimmy are.

Alice is desperately trying to remove the bullet from Jimmy’s shoulder, but finds herself constantly disturbed by Emily and her fear that they might get attacked by the fleeing people.

Bernhard is laying in the snow, bleeding from his leg profusely. The smell of blood attracted a pack of wolves who are slowly circling Bernhard. He senses them coming even if he can’t really see them and he aims at them with his gun. He thinks they’re ready to strike at any moment now, until he sees a light coming. Spencer arrives with his snowmobile and he helps Bernhard get on and he asks for directions. Bernhard suggest they go through the forest, it’ll go quicker and they might lose their friend, referring to Erik, who recognized he has been duped and tries to shoot Bernhard. They go in the forest and Spencer does his best to go between the trees and slalom so Erik can’t shoot them. Frank follows them from behind Erik as he doesn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

Jimmy is now unconscious from the blood loss as Alice is unsure how to treat the gunshot wound. She asks Emily to calm down for a second and she hears a snowmobile approaching. She asks Emily to look for her brother and she heads outside, aiming her rifle at the forest. Spencer emerges with Bernhard and Alice points her gun at Bernhard. She recognizes Spencer, but doesn’t trust Bernhard. Spencer asks her to trust the man, he’s the only reason he’s here. He leans in to passionately kiss his wife, but she says there’s no time, Jimmy has been shot, it’s a long story. Bernhard says he can take care of him, but Alice isn’t sure she can trust him. Bernhard limps and grabs her by the collar. He tells her he’s not by the bad guy, she should ask her husband. Bernhard gets inside and tells Emily he’s not here to hurt her and he has never been. He starts taking care of Jimmy. Outside, Alice and Spencer reunite and he tells her everything that happened. He says they should get out of here, they’re being followed and it’s not safe for them here.

Spencer runs to Frank’s house and takes a snowmobile with him. He looks at the forest and he says out loud that he hopes Frank is alright in there. Inside, Alice packs a couple of things and heads with Emily outside, she says they need to leave. On her way out, Bernhard tells her Jimmy will be alright, he’s all done with him. She thanks him for his help and she says she might have been wrong about him after all. Spencer comes back and grabs Jimmy on his shoulders and he asks Bernhard if he wants to come with them. He says he wouldn’t go far anyway and he’ll stay here to take care of their friend if he wants to follow them. Spencer hops on the snowmobile with Jimmy and Alice is with Emily on hers. Right before they leave, Bernhard gets on the front porch and tells them to head south, they’ll find something there. They leave, heading south, as Bernhard sits on the front porch, looking at the forest.

Some time later, Erik emerges from the forest on his snowmobile. Bernhard stands in front of him and Erik says that at last, they meet again. He must admit that their friend was more of a fight than he expected. Bernhard says it’s time to get this over with as both men standoff.