Man v. Elements used to be a thing by itself. Evolution took over. It became Woman v. Elements. Now, that’s not good enough, either. For today’s film, Infinite Storm, we have Woman v. Elements & douchebag. Oh, she can handle the elements just fine; but having to drag somebody else’s sorry ungrateful ass down the mountain is another thing entirely.
It is November in New Hampshire. Mount Washington has snow. Pam Bales (Naomi Watts) plans to hike it just as she does every year on this day to both respect and eschew her tragic past. Pam wakes to sunlight at 6 am and goes to her diner for prep.
Hold up.
Ok, researching here I’m finding the sunrise at 7:24 am and sunset at 5:33 pm. And that’s early November in New Hamster. The film didn’t say the exact date, but there’s a vicious extended snowstorm during the film (hence the title). In an effort to give us more shots in the daylight, Infinite Storm cheated us on both ends. I’m sorry to be nitpicky … but the details matter; else we wouldn’t care about the tale, now would we?
Fine, I’m moving on. Pam, hitting the part of Mount Washington strangely immune to the sunlight norms that haunt the rest of North America, notes another car in the parking lot. Who else is here? And why? Well, it seems the plot has geared up for its own trek: An experienced hiker goes on her annual walk-to-forget and encounters the world’s biggest ingrate.
After encountering an unnecessary snow trap that leaves Pam maybe injured, maybe not (?), she encounters a man at the acme of the snowy peak at the moment the Infinite Storm arrives. The man (Billy Howle) -she calls him “John”- seems dressed for the beach. Dragging him to safety begins with outfitting him properly … and he doesn’t seem to care. Fantastic.
Infinite Storm proved 
exceedingly confusing because each scene began with allowing the pair to be exactly as injured as we need them to be for the moment. I mean –seriously- I’m not kidding – there is a part of this film when we are certain that Pam has broken a leg and there’s a later part of this film where we are even more certain that John has broken a leg … hence the scenes where they both continue to descend, ford, struggle, survive … and then drive (?!) are kind of crazy. Now, wait a minute, movie; is somebody hurt or not?
This is one those films where it helps to get lost in the story, because the more you think about it, the more the errant details eat at you. The biggest problem is that there are only two people maximum on camera at any time; one is a depressed burnout and the other is … a depressed burnout ingrate. Not exactly a winning formula there, fellas. I could get behind the heroism demonstrated in the film, but I didn’t appreciate the heroic measures it had to go to alter time and science for the screenplay. I know you don’t pick the people you save; but when you do pick the reality by which the ingrate has been saved, that seems a deeper level of awkward.
A forester who prefers a hike to a cry
Finds tracks and trails without a “why?”
At the top, she finds a wanker
Who proves a massive anchor
Next time, just wave and stroll by
Rated R, 97 Minutes
Director: Malgorzata Szumowska
Writer: Joshua Rollins
Genre: Woman v. Mountain, ingrate
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The real Pam Bales
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who question
