Watching In the Shadow of the Pole made me want a thick blanket

If you have a soft spot for grainy, black-and-white ice and don't mind a lack of plot, you should probably watch this. It is basically a high-stakes home movie for people who enjoy history and getting frostbite by proxy.

If you need a fast-paced story or snappy dialogue, you are going to hate every second of this. It's slow. Like, glacially slow, literally.

Richard S. Finnie is the guy behind the lens, and he’s stuck on the CGS Beothic. The ship looks like a tiny toy boat when it is shoved up against those massive, jagged icebergs.

There is this one shot where the ship is just wedged in the white. It feels weirdly claustrophobic even though there is nothing but open space for hundreds of miles.

I kept thinking about how loud it must have been. The ice grinding against the hull probably sounded like world ending, but since it's silent, we just see the vibration.

The sled dogs are the real stars of the show, honestly. They look so unimpressed with the humans, just sitting there in the snow while everyone else scrambles around.

One dog has this look on its face like it's seen it all before. It made me laugh more than anything in Teddy's Goat, which is saying something.

You see the crew interacting with the local Inuit people and it’s... well, it's 1928. It’s a bit awkward to watch now, but it’s a real slice of how things were back then.

The way they trade goods feels very matter-of-fact. No drama, just survival and curiosity.

Some of the landscape shots are actually pretty stunning, even with the scratches on the film. It reminded me a little of the rugged outdoor vibes in Vengeance of the Wilds, but way more lonely.

There is no fake tension here. No monsters or villains, just the constant threat of the boat getting crushed like an eggshell.

I noticed one guy wearing a coat that looks like it weighs about fifty pounds. I felt heavy just watching him move across the deck.

The camera shakes a lot when the wind hits it. It’s not polished, and that is why it works.

It’s not like Scared Stiff where the tension is manufactured for a thrill. Here, the tension is just the weather.

Sometimes the film just cuts away to nothing in particular. It feels like Finnie was just trying to save his equipment from freezing solid.

The whole thing is pretty short, which is a mercy. You get the point of the cold pretty fast.

It’s a weirdly peaceful experience if you’re in the right mood. Like looking through someone's old attic and finding a box of memories you weren't supposed to see.

The movie doesn't really "end" in a traditional way. It just sort of stops when the journey is over, or maybe when they ran out of film.

I’m glad I watched it, but I’m also glad I was sitting on a warm couch while I did. Highly recommend a hot tea for this one. ❄️