Indie dramas often find their footing in the gap between festival premieres and wide release. That window just narrowed for one long-awaited project. MUBI dropped the first trailer for Andrew Haigh’s A Long Winter.
The clip captures tender laughs mixed with tense faces. Characters push through deep snow and icy water in remote mountain settings. It stars Kit Connor as Tommy alongside Fred Hechinger, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Caitríona Balfe and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.
Haigh adapted the film from a Colm Tóibín short story. The story sits in the early 1950s Colorado mountains as a family braces for winter. Hechinger plays Mike, whose world shifts when his mother Louise vanishes into a storm. Moss-Bachrach portrays the father, Lester. Connor’s Tommy heads off to the Korean War. Balfe appears as the restless Louise. Woon-A-Tai rounds out key supporting turns.
This project sat with Haigh for nearly two decades. He first read the Tóibín piece around its 2006 publication, before directing any features.
“Within that story was everything I wanted to make films about,” Haigh has said. Early attempts set it in Spain. Financing never clicked then. Success with All of Us Strangers finally unlocked it. He relocated the action to the American Rockies.
Haigh shot the film on location in Alberta, Canada, near spots used for The Revenant. He has called his take “my version of The Revenant — a slightly more delicate version.” Cinematographer André Turpin handled the visuals. The result leans into isolation and quiet emotional shifts.
All of Us Strangers earned Haigh six BAFTA nominations. Earlier works like 45 Years and Weekend built his reputation for intimate character studies. A Long Winter continues those threads of loss, longing and self-discovery. Haigh later linked the film to personal grief after his father’s death.
“I think in a weird sense, I look at A Long Winter and think, ‘Oh, I think that is a sort of conversation with myself about that event somehow,’” he told TheWrap.
Hechinger steps into a lead after strong supporting work. Moss-Bachrach brings the grounded intensity familiar from The Bear. Balfe, known for Outlander and Belfast, draws early praise for her role. Connor arrives fresh from Heartstopper and Warfare, reuniting with Woon-A-Tai from the latter. Martin Freeman also appears.
The film premiered at Telluride in early September. It then played Toronto and the New York Film Festival.
Reviews flagged the performances and Haigh’s restrained style. Some noted awards potential in the acting and adapted screenplay categories. It screens at the London Film Festival around the trailer launch.
MUBI developed and co-financed the picture with Film4. Producers include Tristan Goligher of The Bureau plus Chad Oakes and Mike Frislev of Nomadic Pictures. The distributor plans UK and Ireland cinemas for January 15. US and Canada dates follow on January 22, with a limited New York bow earlier in December. Other markets arrive in February.
Social chatter around the trailer stays focused on the cast and snowy visuals. Heartstopper fans zeroed in on Connor’s scenes. No major backlash or leaks surfaced. The drop simply builds anticipation for Haigh’s next chapter.
Theatrical runs will test whether the intimate scale connects beyond festivals. MUBI has grown its awards muscle in recent years. A strong campaign could keep A Long Winter in the conversation through early 2027. Haigh has framed the film as a bookend to themes from the past 15 years of his work. What follows remains open.
The trailer offers the clearest view yet of this long-gestating story.
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