Mark Reviews Movies: INFINITE STORM

Infinite Storm, Bleecker Street

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Review by Mark Dujsik | March 24, 2022

Hiking, according to the protagonist of Infinite Storm, is cheaper than therapy. For most of the movie, that description is the extent of what we learn about what's actually happening beneath the surface of this dramatization of a real-life tale of survival. Mostly, the story is about putting its main characters through as many physical challenges as possible along the way to a final scene that spells out the point screenwriter Joshua Rollins wants to make. It's unearned and a bit disingenuous, considering how much the movie does in order to avoid its real purpose.

Here, we meet Pam Bales (Naomi Watts), who's based on a real person with the same name, and considering how many liberties Rollins and director Malgorzata Szumowska take with the specifics of the survival story, one starts to wonder if the real Bales' life has been altered or invented by the filmmakers (Neither of the parties involved in the true story wanted to become famous or even known in real life, so the details that are publicly available are pretty slim). We don't go to the movies for complete authenticity, and as long as there's some semblance of human reality, that's the only truth that genuinely matters.

The truth of this story, though, is hidden for a long time. Pam lives alone near the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We watch her morning routine, preparing for a hike on the trail along Mount Washington, as the time appearing on screen prepares us for a countdown toward something important and a guide for how lengthy that ordeal will end up being. A couple photographs of Pam with two young daughters and the girls' absence from the place are the first—and really only—hints of this character, her past, and the thing she's trying to escape by hiking.

Most of the opening sequence is about establishing a fairly ordinary day for Pam. She packs her supplies, makes a stop at a local restaurant for some hot cocoa to fill her travel mugs, and makes some small talk with a couple who have just finished a hike.

At the start, only a few things that this particular day apart from any other. First, the news on the radio talks about a cold front and gusty, snowy storm approaching the mountains. Second, the kind restaurant owner (played by Denis O'Hare) shows a bit of concern for Pam and makes sure she has an extra coat.

Finally, there's a third car, apart from her own and the hiking couple's, in the trail's parking area. The couple didn't see anyone on their way, but someone has to be up there.

That someone, whom Pam finds after having falling into a hole that mainly allows the movie a chance for some early tension and a flashback, is a lone man. She spots his footprints—sneakers, of all footwear for the terrain and the weather—and then him, unconscious and nearly frozen, sitting on a peak. Pam decides to call him "John" (Billy Howle), and she's determined to get both of them back down the mountain alive.

From there, the plot sets Pam and John against the elements, as well as the rescuer against the stranger's delirium or, worse, his refusal to be rescued from his deadly circumstances. Like with Pam's past, there's a mystery to the person John is and what brought him to the mountain without the proper supplies, equipment, or clothing, and just as with our protagonist, it's not until the story's epilogue that Rollins even reveals the basics of that character background.

That means we get two characters, neither of whom we know much or anything about, walking and not saying much, save for Pam's encouragement and John's occasional protests. The bulk of the story is devoted to events, namely assorted perils, accidents, and close calls. For most of this dangerous adventure, these two—and especially John—are primarily defined by how luckily unlucky they are. John tumbles down a slope, knocking down and taking Pam with him, but she's unharmed, while he is left with a limp. At another point, John falls into a river, and after some time of following the water, Pam finds him—and finds him shockingly unhindered, uninjured, and in a joking mood.

It's difficult to believe how much these two—and, again, especially John—survive under the assorted, perilous circumstances. Since the majority of this story forgoes almost every other element for a series of challenges, that lack of credibility severely undermines the movie as a whole. An extended epilogue finally puts the lives and struggles of these characters into some context, but it's far too late for Infinite Storm to uncover some purpose beyond its unconvincing adventure.

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