Andrew Haigh's 'A Long Winter' Is Quietly Devastating—If You Let It Be

Andrew Haigh made a film that knows exactly what it is: spare, deliberate, uninterested in easy answers. A Long Winter, based on Tóibín's novella, trades mainstream crowd-pleasing for something rarer—a movie that trusts you to sit with its silences and let the story breathe.

Set on a farm in the early '50s, it's the kind of picture that could lose people in the first twenty minutes. The pacing is patient. The emotional beats aren't spelled out. There's no soundtrack cue telling you what to feel. But if you sync up with what Haigh is doing, the film locks you inside its world completely. That's the real skill—building something austere enough to scare off the casual viewer, while rewarding the ones who show up ready to listen.

It's not for everyone. But for people who still believe cinema can be quiet and profound at the same time, A Long Winter is the kind of film that stays with you long after the credits roll.

Read the full story at Variety → https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/a-long-winter-review-andrew-haigh-1236850173/