Numb (I) (2015) User Reviews

Classic storyline with flawed logic throughout the movie

[mryang01 · 5/10 · 3 February 2018]

The story is simple - A recently financially crippled couple finds an incredible opportunity to get rich the easy way - By treasure hunting a stash of gold hidden some 20 years ago from a bank robbery. Cinematics and sound are great and the acting is "ok" for the most part. However - Why do the directors insist that people are stupid? The movie gets me up to the point where logic gets so flawed, it simply can't be ignored.

SPOILERS FOLLOWS: *************************************** 01. When they find the old man - they don't take off his clothes - And the driver is a forest site inspector, used to the cold weather and don't know how to treat someone with hypothermia? I IGNORED THIS.

02. Openly arguing about the "treasure" in a restaurant with the possibility of camera surveillance? I IGNORED THIS.

03. Stealing a GPS although they found several thousand dollars in the old mans pockets? I IGNORED THIS.

04. Not taking into consideration that 4 million dollars worth of gold would weigh a minimum of 300 pounds and not bring any rucsac for any of the 4 people in the group? I IGNORED THIS.

05. Go out for the treasure "hunt" with ZERO planning? I IGNORED THIS.

06. Go out in the morning without buying ANY NECESSARY EQUIPMENT or protective clothing? Well, this I couldn't ignore. WHO in their right mind would go out in feet deep snow in loafers, no gloves, no hat AND NO planning of the terrain to cover? WTF? No shovel? No backpack? I mean - COME ON - They could have bought all their equipment in any gas station.

AND - Obviously - Everything goes down hill from here. There are thousands of other narratives that could have been exploited in this scenario. There is a hidden conflict between the pairs. Moral issues. Equipment failure. Gold moved. Hard ground. They brake into the cabin (this could have been much better used in the movie).

Greed is a terrible thing...

[akawandie · 5/10 · 12 September 2020]

This was just ok. The best part was the acting. At times the story was a bit unbelievable and unrealistic. I mean why not light a fire if you have matches? Come on. This is a movie about desperate people trying to get rich or die trying, literally.

NOT A SINGLE CAMP FIRE - Worth a watch

[co6779 · 6/10 · 14 March 2020]

This was an enjoyable movie for the wife & I it really fell short on the fact the guy was up on the outdoors but never once made a fire to warm everyone?

The cold was the only issue which really was not a issue since the dead lower branches of the pine trees could of kept everyone warm totally lost it on that fact.

Anyone with any knowledge of the cold winters would understand the major hole in the story.

I remember as a kid maybe 13 years old being about a mile from home with my uncle in the dead of winter in the snow during hunting season, my hands & feet had gotten very cold, we went under pines grabbed up the dead twigs and started a fire. We spent a few hours around the fire watching deer.

Candles / Flare Gun but no FIRE!!!

Still worth a watch.

Definitely worth watching... just don't expect too much!

[mksa-1 · 5/10 · 3 August 2017]

Briefly, the movie is way better than I expected. Not a masterpiece, nothing special but worth watching. I have no deeper analysis. Period.

Except one 'detail' bothering me. I know it bothers very few of us, so please don't take me too seriously, just because I could not take the movie seriously. I happen to be a Finn, who has survived in frosty forests for the most of his miserable life.

The sub-zero conditions are hilariously unrealistic in the movie. There has to be a reason for this, right? There must be cold somewhere in Canada in winters. Maybe the production was late or something. I don't mean movies should always be realistic, but come on...

It is obviously very cold season, if not exceptionally cold winter. Characters get severe injuries of cold. Kind of damage not being possible without roughly -20°C (or -4°F) and strong wind. But as there is seemingly not that windy, it would be -40°C (or the same in °F) if not even under that. Without proper clothing you go NUMB in that environment. Then it knocks you out for good. Quickly. Before you become a half-frozen zombie.

Eyebrows seem to collect heavy ice layer, but breathing is hardly visible in most of the scenes. The ice layer usually builds up of moisture of your own breathe. Snowing looks like a rain. Because it is so warm it is practically raining.

The structure of snow around looks like it is wet and melting. Winterly rays of sun are too weak to have any effect on ice. The forest looks more like how it could look like in June in Finland... It must be around +5...10°C.

In Finland we call that summer. We go out and celebrate those rare moments of warmth, preferably naked. Well... just being honest, just paid attention to these facts, relevant or not :)

In many ways the QuintEssential Canadian indie

[A_Different_Drummer · 6/10 · 20 July 2016]

And that may not be a compliment.

As I have indicated in other reviews, it is hard to review Canadian films entirely on their own merits. Frankly,if you did, they would not fare especially well. Because the Canadian film industry is one of those odd businesses which does not have to survive entirely on its own merits. Because of tax breaks, dollar exchanges, and geographical placement, the Canunk film machine is a lot like the president of a company that got the job not on talent but because he was the nephew or son in law of the Chairman of the Board. He can do the job. But there are also many others who can do it better.

Typical of the genre, we have a minimalist cast, largely unknown (although Bamber could pass for an international leading man) and a story which (heavy sigh) is a re-imagining of something older and wiser, (in this case Treasure of Sierra Madre, more or less.) Where the film gets props it is for the attempt (and I am choosing my words carefully) to turn the Canadian climate into a natural horror backdrop. This is somewhat clever and works somewhat well. To the point where you almost expect to see in the closing credits a SFX nod to "Mother Nature."

That said, the script is not especially sharp, nor is the acting. The brilliant and unappreciated TV series Fortitude did a much better job of making a natural climate seem menacing and scary. (Recommended if you missed it.)

Plus, (again heavy sigh) the film suffers from the standards "tells" one sees in most Canadian indies. The cinematography, the lighting, is perfect. Literally perfect. You get the feeling that the Director refused to shoot on any day that was overcast or had bad weather. Because in 40 years of trying, Canadian film-makers have never quite grasped that sometimes imperfection makes a story more credible. Even the outfits worn by the actors (until the final 15 minutes) look like they were replaced each morning, brand new, from the local Walmart.

Other IMDb members have commented on the fake reviews (a true failing in the IMDb system, especially with obscure films that get few reviews) so we will not go there.

And yes the film did win awards but (you guessed it) from a Canadian Award group. Essentially a group that had to find SOMEONE to give the awards to each year -- a paradox within a conundrum. Within an industry created by accountants.

Forgettable

[DogFilmCritic · 5/10 · 19 July 2016]

I read the plot and i thought this looked interesting, it reminded me of the movie a simple plan but that movie was way more interesting than this.

While i watch it i could think of way better movies with the same theme that i could be watching, i don't hate it but nothing got me hooked to it.

I mean its not bad but there's nothing there that hasn't been done before in more interesting ways. The characters were boring and forgettable with

very used situations on way they are looking for the gold. Ill give thumbs up to the make up it look pretty good, either than that the movie is flat and its something to watch a Sunday afternoon and i doubt you will remember ever watching it afterwards.

Sadly this movie has a lot of "good reviews" or should i say payed reviews making it a thrilling master piece, I dare you to watch it and give it a 10 out of 10

Flawed, yet effectively visceral thriller

[mikemdp · 6/10 · 4 February 2020]

"Numb" is physical proof a movie can revolve entirely around unlikeable, selfish ninnies who do nothing but stupid things, and still succeed as a visceral, edge-of-your-seat thriller.

Financially-strapped couple Will and Dawn travel to what is apparently the frigid Canadian North (it's never stated) for his new job.

They pick up secretive brother and sister hitchhikers Lee and Cheryl, and almost immediately happen upon a dying old man who carries clues to a buried fortune in gold coins. So they all decide to go on a treasure hunt.

After this really compelling setup, everything gets stupid right away.

The four set off on a hike through the frozen wilderness wearing nothing but light winter jackets, and bearing nothing but - seriously - a crowbar from the trunk of the car.

No hats, no snowshoes, no gloves, no scarves, no provisions... not even a shovel to dig up the damn gold, should they find it.

They bicker. They argue. They threaten each other, especially whenever one of them exhibits a glimmer of wisdom and suggests turning back.

These are four garbage humans. Really, you'll be rooting for the winter with this film.

And that's a good thing. What a terrific job this movie does in portraying the frozen North. "The Blair Witch Project" has nothing on the fantastic "lost in the woods" scenario this movie offers, and how it takes a physical and mental toll on these four people.

And its scenes of the actual Northern wilderness are almost indistinguishable from studio sets that would be obvious in a lesser picture. There's one scene in which a character is submerged in a river, and you'll go, "How the hell did they do that?"

While the four main characters lack in, geez, any iota of good sense, the performances and direction are almost unbelievably top notch.

The four lead characters are all ninnies, to be sure. But their actors bring to them real life and depth.

Aleks Paunovic was particularly effective as sensitive ex-con Lee. He really sells his character's tragically flawed Zen approach to life.

As the weather turns colder and their characters suffer the devastating effects of hypothermia, the actors, combined with realistic makeup effects and creative framing, really convince the viewer of the desperate nature of their situation.

"Numb," unfortunately, falls apart in the end, as all good movie ideas do when they're not fully thought out.

But it's a helluva ride getting there, and you'll be glad you invested 90 minutes of your time with it.

You can't fix stupid

[rhefner2002 · 2/10 · 16 January 2021]

Is it just me, or has there been an abundance of "frozen wilderness" movies in recent years? I'm getting tired of watching people get frostbite and hypothermia. The title of this movie should have been _Numbskulls_. If the love of money is the root of all evil, here, it's the root of all stupidity. Two hapless couples go traipsing through the frozen Canadian wilderness to cop a stash of buried gold. They take no survival gear, no supplies, no nothing. They forget that four people can't carry $4 million in gold coins. Needless to say, people die and / or freeze to death. They could have dressed warmer and rented some snowmobiles and done this, no problem......But then,, of course, there would be no movie. Don't waste your time on this insipid crap.

Exciting wilderness thriller

[Tiffany-sharp83 · 7/10 · 27 April 2019]

My favorite genre is survival wilderness thrillers. I don't come across good ones very often. Numb was one of the good ones. It ended up being nothing like what I thought it was going to be. Overall, a good watch

The title is the feeling you'll have by the end

[bitbucketchip · 3/10 · 24 July 2021]

Four disposable a-holes go for a whiny stroll in the woods. These under-attired dopes are searching for treasure, but forget to bring equipment, have never seen a GPS, and can't read a map. Success is all but assured.

Do they get the gold? Do they kill one another in the process? Do they ever fricken shut up?

Who cares.

Three stars for the scenery.

Neat little thriller

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 25 September 2019]

A married couple with financial problems and a pair of hitchhikers eager to start a new life for themselves decide to join forces and trek out into the harsh Canadian wilderness in search of a fortune in gold. However, both greed and the extremely cold weather get the best of them.

Director Jason R. Goode, working from a tight script by Andre Harden, relates the compelling story at a constant pace, builds a good deal of tension, makes strong and evocative use of the bleak wintry landscape, and vividly captures the merciless severity of the unsparing cold so well that you can almost feel it. Moreover, the tone becomes more dark and grim as the narrative unfolds, with a potent doozy of a downbeat conclusion. The sound acting by the capable cast rates as another substantial asset: Jamie Barber as the desperate Will, Stefanie von Pfetten as Will's loyal wife Dawn, Marie Avgeropoulos as brash and hot-tempered prostitute Cheryl, and Aleks Paunovic as laid-back philosophical ex-con Lee. Colin Cunningham has a cool supporting role as a crazy hermit. Both Jan Kiesser's sharp widescreen cinematography and Alain Mayrand's moody score are up to par. Well worth a watch.

Not too bad.

[magicbymiketurner · 6/10 · 21 April 2019]

It's not as bad as some would have you to believe. Beautiful scenery, acting is fair. It's worth the watch if it's free.

Dumb

[kluseba · 5/10 · 30 April 2018]

Well, at least some of the landscapes were beautiful.

To be honest, Numb had few more things going for it than gorgeous Canadian landscapes. The film had an appropriately cold and sinister atmosphere. Numb doesn't overstay its welcome with a running time around ninety minutes. The initial story sounded interesting enough to spend five bucks on it.

Numb is about an indebted couple that comes across two hitchhikers, a former prisoner and his prostitute sister. The four come across a man suffering of hypothermia who dies when they try to rescue him in the middle of the night. They find out that he was the only survivor of a group of thieves who robbed four million dollars in gold coins twenty years ago. They retrieve a piece of paper with some GPS data among the dead man's belongings and assume that this must be the spot where the thieves hid the money twenty years ago. The four decide to go out in the woods despite harsh weather conditions to get the money and start new lives. However, conflicts soon occur as the weather gets worse by the hour.

The premise of the movie sounds good but everything described above is initially the whole story. One never gets to know where the former prisoner and the prostitute actually came from and why they were aimlessly walking outside in the cold weather in the beginning of the story. The reasons why the thief decided to get the money in the middle of winter just after being released from prison after twenty years instead of waiting for the summer are never explained. The fact that the four treasure hunters go out in the woods without gloves, snowshoes, toques or any other kind of equipment to survive in the harsh winter doesn't make any sense at all either. The reasons why they start turning against one another are shallow as well. A random side character who is living in a cabin is introduced out of nowhere and soon killed for very shallow reasons. Even the movie's resolution with the police officer doesn't make any sense at all if you think about it for a second. Overall, the entire script is poorly written. If you expect any explanations, suspense or twists, you are going to be disappointed.

The acting is just as wooden as the faceless characters for whose fates the viewers don't care because it's impossible to empathize with them: a lying husband, his egoistic wife, a philosophic prisoner and a greedy prostitute with anger management issues.

Camera and light techniques are average, the film's pace is quite dragging and even the soundtrack is somewhat sleep-inducing.

At the end of the day, my rating for the film is generous and if I didn't like Canadian winter, I would even give this film a lower rating. This average thriller wastes much initially intriguing potential. You can watch this on a snowy afternoon if you have one and a half hours of free time. Don't spend too much money on it. There are numerous movies set in harsh winter weather conditions like The Grey that are so much better than this Canadian independent film.

A waste of time.

[kynick2 · 2/10 · 3 October 2016]

Often my friends call me "snob" when it comes to movies...I guess I am. This movie makes the ABC movie of the week look like "Classics" Last year I had my students make short films. I gave them a month. More than a few were far superior to this film.

1. Picking up 2 random folks on a highway is always a dangerous thing to do but I wondered...where did they come from? I mean, did they see a broken down car somewhere? Maybe it's a Canada thing..."sure hop in" 2. I get that they weren't aware of the terrain (the cliff) BUT I would have thought they'd at least prepare...you know, food, maybe use some of the money they got off the old man to buy GLOVES, HATS etc.

3. The entire story was just ridic. The back story with the lost job. What was that? I just can't go on.

A decent movie- *****Contains spoilers*****

[mtjohnson-61001 · 7/10 · 27 May 2017]

This was more than a movie about greedy people searching for a pot of gold. This was pure unadulterated desperation by people searching for another life. They could not turn back not only because they had come to far but because they did not want the lives they were hoping to leave behind. They were willing to risk it all for the lure of gold. It really speaks to how wealth and materialism have pervaded our culture and become essentially worth more than life itself to far to many people. The frost biting cold wasn't enough to stop them because they had tunnel vision motivated by greed and desperation. Even if there was a better way to accomplish their mission they didn't trust each other and the idea of the wealth and life that lie ahead would not allow them to see the forest for the trees.

There was only one of them with a smidgen of rational and even he was to fool hearty to leave before almost dying from the bitter cold. If ever there was a movie that reflected the saying "desperate times calls for drastic measures" this movie certainly fits the bill. The acting was good too.

No one would go out dressed like that with any common sense

[gustheaffen · 2/10 · 5 March 2021]

Two couples that meet up end up running into a distressed man in the middle of the road that was frozen. He has GPS cords to a hidden treasure of gold. One of the men is a guy that works out in the elements in an oil field. So what does the foursome do? They traipse off into the back woods dressed like they are going to a shopping mall. Every dumb thing happens of course to the so called survival outdoors guy. It is just a waste of time and really dumb - dumb enough to make you numb.

Decent film, if you ignore poor choices throughout

[papreppergal · 6/10 · 30 July 2021]

This isn't an awful movie. It's really not that bad. I actually enjoyed it. The acting was good, believable. The picture was just fine. Even most of the script was fairly natural. Sometimes you could easily guess what was going to happen next, sometimes it was a surprise.

The thing that's the hardest to contend with about this movie is all the poor choices the characters make while on their adventure. Did anyone check the weather before heading out to the wilderness? Did they bring a map to go along with the GPS? Did everyone remember to pack gloves, hats, scarves, a way to build a fire, have the ability to obtain drinking water, a shovel to dig with, proper footwear, even a roll of duck tape?....Nah! We'll wing it! 😄😄

Now, having said that, there wouldn't have been a movie if all these poor choices & lack of preparedness didn't take place. So it became necessary for there to be a story.

If nothing else, this is a story with a moral on GREED, EGO, PARANOIA, and what some people will do to others to get what they want at all costs.

BEWARE - Fake Reviews

[mendzel · 5/10 · 18 July 2016]

Buyer beware: I wouldn't trust anyones review whose ONLY activity is related to the movie they're reviewing,

Are these "fake" people? No. Are they all associated with the production of the movie? No Did they come to this page organically to review a movie of their own choosing? No.

I've been to movie premiers where they ask you to review them favorably on IMDb.

I politely decline, and so should you if you weren't planning on reviewing it before.

The movie is not bad.

My rating is objective.

Going For Gold

[jimbo-53-186511 · 6/10 · 10 April 2018]

Cash-strapped husband and wife Will and Dawn stumble upon a pair of mysterious hitchhikers and end up picking up another passenger along the way (a man suffering from extreme hypothermia). The man with hypothermia dies , Will, Dawn and the hitchhikers discover that the man is carrying co-ordinates which allegedly relate to some missing gold stolen from various banks. The 4 of them decide to team up and try to find the gold, but will they all be able to survive the extremely cold temperatures?

As a survival thriller, Numb is perfectly functional; characters go from A to B, they argue, then they try to work together, one person assumes command and acts as the voice of reason only for everyone to go against that person's advice/decision and to top it all off we have our token lunatic living alone out in the middle of the sticks (well there has to be one in every film doesn't there). Although these may seem like criticisms (and to a certain extent they are) these things do drive the film forward and at the very least ensure that the film is never boring. However...

It also means that Numb is far from being a brilliant film and I think what lets it down slightly is the script. The whole thing is predictable from start to finish and the script also offers no room for development (the mysterious hitchhikers remain mysterious and we learn next to nothing about them - the only thing I got was that one or possibly both of them were in prison). This also extends to the wife and husband who were equally uninteresting. The predictable narrative I could handle if the film was more intense, dramatic or exciting, but aside from the moment where the wife nearly falls off the cliff it just wasn't really like this. The sad thing is that there were definitely ways that this could have been more exciting; what about the GPS failing due to bad weather and have them abandon the search for the gold and try to find their way back to the car? Or have the loner in the remote cabin trying to pick them off one by one while they're trying to find the gold or perhaps a combination of the two? Like I say by playing the whole thing out safe and with by-the-numbers precision it just meant that the script was a bit lacking in certain areas - although I did like the scene where they put forest leaves and branches under their shoes to act as snow shoes.

Having said that the cast all do a decent enough job and sell the film as best as they can; although them all being unlikeable and rather selfish is a little bit off-putting truth be told. The bleak and remote setting is captured fairly well and the cinematography is also good.

Numb's script is the make or break aspect here and acts as both a blessing and a curse; the film is short and sweet with 85 minutes passing by fairly painlessly and to its credit the film is never boring. However, it's the lack of spark within the narrative that holds it back and whilst it isn't boring it's hardly an edge-of-your seat thrill ride either. It gets the job done, but it perhaps isn't as good as it could have been.

Not uplifting

[blanche-2 · 2/10 · 31 December 2023]

I only watched Numb because of my deep love for Jamie Bamber. He has been in some good productions, such as Law & Order UK

This wasn't one of them.

Numb is like a fourth rate Treasure of the Sierra Madre but with snow. And no expense was spared to show how freezing it was.

A down and out couple pick up two hitchhikers and a nearly frozen man who dies. He has the GPS coordinates for stolen gold on his person. The four decide to find it.

The only problem is they're idiots. They are not dressed for the weather, nor do they have the proper tools and supplies for such an endeavor. And does anyone think gee, if we find $4 million in gold, how do we carry it?

The acting is just fine but this movie is such a downer, though for me it's a fitting way to end the year. Tomorrow I'll watch A Night at the Opera and cheer myself up.

Cold. Brrrrrrr!

[davlaw-20638 · 8/10 · 13 January 2021]

Some of, if not the best, acting at being cold you will ever see! Including 'Scott of the Antarctic'! One of my favourite 'B' movies, but the plot isn't really too bad.

Very good except for the gigantic plot hole

[LaverneandShirleysucks · 6/10 · 8 March 2021]

When they pick up the old man, they find thousands in cash on him and keep it. So knowing they were going to have to trek into the frozen woods for the gold, why on earth didn't they use the cash to gear up on supplies and clothing?!

They all just wandered into the mountains completely unprepared instead which was beyond stupid. They were all unlikable characters to boot so I didn't care what happened to them anyway. But that plot hole was too glaring to ignore or let slide. Anyone with a brain would've been better prepared.

Nice twist at the very end though so it gets an extra star for that.

If this was a comedy it would be worth a 10

[mike-stanford-833-697126 · 1/10 · 6 August 2016]

This film was so bad that I just feel compelled to leave a revue. All the fake reviews from people whose home is Canada (coincidentally where the film was shot) giving it a 10 are so obvious. Read the 'real' reviews before you watch this pile of garbage. By three-quarters of the way through, I was laughing so much, I was convinced that it had been misrepresented as a thriller and that it was actually a comedy. The acting was so bad and the storyline so unbelievable that I just had to keep watching, even though I nearly gave up on it before it was halfway through. For those fellow English viewers of a certain age, you will have to ask yourself why Mrs. Overall was staggering through the woods at one stage. Thank you,directors and producers, for the funniest comedy I have seen in ages.

Hard to believe story with an absolute terrible ending!!

[joiningjt · 1/10 · 6 October 2020]

Had a few moments but everything in the story was not believable and I'm really easy on storylines. The movie might at least got a 5 but the horrible ending made making to the end a 1. Ok acting and ok cinematography that's about it.

Gold digging

[sergelamarche · 6/10 · 13 September 2018]

A bit of a standard story of gold treasure à la canadienne. Rather crazy and psychopathic all along, the englishes want to get rich quick and die rich. Cabin fever in the cold.