Infinite Storm

Last night I went to see Infinite Storm and, while this survival thriller based on true events is visually stunning, I found it to be a bit underwhelming.  Pam Bales (Naomi Watts) frequently climbs Mt. Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire but, as she prepares for her next attempt, a colleague warns her not to go because of a coming winter storm.  The date seems to have some significance for her and she mentions that she needs to get up on the mountain as therapy for a past trauma.  She is very skilled and incredibly prepared but the storm soon becomes too much for her and she decides to head down.  However, she sees footprints in the snow and decides to follow them to an unresponsive man (Billy Howle) who is so ill-prepared for the mountain that it is implied he is suicidal.  Pam is determined to rescue him, even when he becomes combative, and they face many hardships beyond the weather as they struggle to survive.  During several moments of peril, there are flashbacks to an earlier time in her life that attempt to provide some context for the purpose of her journey but they are annoyingly vague until Pam and the man she calls John have a reunion during the third act.  I really enjoyed the woman against nature narrative and the cinematography is so immersive that there were moments when I felt like I was on the mountain with Pam.  The mountain scenery (the Alps in Slovenia stand in for the White Mountains) is breathtaking and Watts gives a riveting and physical performance that is entirely believable.  Where this movie loses its way is when it leaves the mountain and tries to become a human drama.  The explanation of why Pam and John both came to be on the mountain is such a tonal shift from what precedes it that it feels almost anticlimactic and unnecessary.  This is probably a movie that you can wait to see on a streaming platform.