There’s little coincidence between this film’s chilly title and its cool themes. Winter solstice is, unlike its summery cousin, a point from which things should only get better. In the case of Jim (Anthony LaPaglia), a grieving widower and father of two teenage sons, it can’t come soon enough. They live small lives in a small town, expertly captured by writer / director Josh Sternfeld. He has a clear understanding about the detail and rhythm of such communities, where a new neighbour is a significant event. He eschews the glossy array of kooks that can populate similar stories; his is steeped in a languid, honest naturalism.

Solstice arrives in the form of a leggy brunette, Allison Janney, about whom the boys are indifferent but Jim is cautiously intrigued. A woman’s friendship rekindles possibility and gives the distraught family cause to move on. Sternfeld maintains a rigorously contained approach which illustrates authenticity and indicates how hopelessly unrealistic most filmmaking is. The performances are grounded, assured, confident; his characters are so frank it’s hard to imagine them not being a real family.

But observation is only part of the story and in this case, one in which very little happens. There are no histrionics or epiphanies, this is simply a family in grief that learns to include it. These are the film’s strengths, and also its weakness. Overall, Winter Solstice is a little like listening to Phillip Glass on a wet Sunday afternoon. There’s an appreciation for technique and purpose, but after a while it just makes you long for the excitement of a Saturday night.

// COLIN FRASER