There are some movies I watch I know I am going to love right from the first scene. Sometimes I’m not sure. Maybe the movie could go downhill after this, I think. But from what I knew going into Snow Angels, and watching the first few minutes unfold, I knew this was going to be a chilly and thrilling experience. Snow Angels marks my first venture into the mind of writer/director David Gordon Green, who has previously made three acclaimed films titled George Washington, All the Real Girls, and Undertow, and I’m already eager to visit his earlier work. I’m also curious to see how his sensibilities will transfer over to the Judd Apatow factory this summer with the Seth Rogen and James Franco starrer The Pineapple Express. No matter the genre, this guy can direct. Despite a downer ending that I didn’t find completely successful, Snow Angels is a terrific film and easily the best I’ve seen so far this year.

Sam Rockwell and an excellent Kate Beckinsale star in this ensemble piece that tells of a group of people all intertwined, looking for love, sludging through work and school, dodging suicidal tendencies. Beckinsale plays Annie, a waitress at a Chinese food restaurant, where she works with high school student Arthur (Michael Angarano), a young man she used to babysit when he was just a child. Annie has a child of her own now, with estranged husband Glenn (Rockwell), who tried to commit suicide and who has violent tendencies toward her. Arthur finds love in a geeky, sweet new girl Lila (Juno’s Olivia Thirlby), while Annie is trying to avoid conflict in a fleeting sexual relationship with her best friend’s husband.

From what I’ve read about Green’s earlier films, this one actually has a lot more plot than what he’s made before, despite what the plot synopsis seems to promise. A tragic event occurs about halfway through the movie that really sets a lot of conflict in motion and brings out the best in all the film’s actors. What I loved most about the movie, actually, was the time it spent on each and every character, particularly Arthur and Lila. These are two characters who don’t factor a whole lot into the film’s denoument, despite their multitude of scenes in the film, but I found their relationship to be one of the most natural I’ve seen in the movies for a long time. The mystery that makes for a more suspenseful second half also works really well, and, not having really seen much of the film’s advertising beforehand, I was rather surprised by the act of violence that occurs. What doesn’t work so well is the ending, which is depressing seemingly just to be depressing. A major character allows for an act to be committed, and I just didn’t really buy it. Of course it didn’t ruin the movie by any means, but I was a little let down by the ending when everything that comes before it is so stellar

The cast is excellent, and I was particularly impressed by Kate Beckinsale, who up until now hasn’t really impressed me in, well, anything. As great as something like Van Helsing was — oh I know it has its fans somewhere — she’s never really left an impression on me. Now I can finally call myself a fan. She’s mesmerizing in this, playing the melancholy and the madness her character has to suffer from beginning to end. Rockwell is really awkward, in a good way. You never really know when he’s going to snap, although one can see it coming that he’s not going to make the best effort to do good rather than bad. Angarano and Thirlby have a really precious chemistry together and give memorable performances. Green is a terrific actor’s director and gets superb performances from his actors.

Snow Angels is a terrific moody thriller that I really enjoyed watching from beginning to end. From the riveting storyline, to the excellent performances, to the central mystery, to the gorgeous use of snowy location, there’s a lot of good things to take in. I now look forward to seeing some of Green’s other work, especially the upcoming Pineapple Express, which looks to be a huge departure for him. There’s nothing astonishing in Snow Angels, but it’s a great film to get lost in. It’s a depressing, maddening little movie. Just the kind I like.