Brandon Murphy’s latest horror-thriller, “Snow Valley,” starring Rachel Michiko Whitney, Tom Williamson, and Barbara Crampton, fails to find its footing during the 75-minute span. The movie starts off decently. However, as it progresses, it drastically loses its essence as a horror thriller and turns into… nothing. If the film were longer, there might have been a chance for it to become worthy of your attention. But, alas, it isn’t. The film follows the journey of Laura, who plans to ski with her boyfriend, Heath, on the weekend. Unfortunately, strange things begin to unfold right after she sets foot inside Heath’s house.
Spoilers Ahead
Snow Valley (2024) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis
The film starts with Heath and Laura planning to spend the weekend skiing together. Heath has recently managed to gain some success in his business, and Laura is doing a thesis on children’s brain functioning at a certain university. Laura has helped Heath build his business, and since both have been very busy during the past few weeks, they have taken their time off and come to Heath’s parental home. Heath expresses his gratitude toward Laura since she has been very supportive throughout the process.
Heath comes from a very rich family, and this skiing place is owned by his father, who lives in this snow valley. Laura knows that Heath is rich, but she never imagined that his family owns such a big house that they only visit in the holidays. She is shocked to see the inside of the house and wonders where the money comes from. Laura is a bit uncomfortable as she has known Heath for long. However, he has never mentioned such wealth to her. She feels like the whole scenario is kind of shady and wants to learn more about Heath’s family history.
What does Laura find out about the Valley?
When Laura is prepared to go out for skiing, she sees a number of collectibles that are all connected to mining. Later, she sees a photograph of two identical men sitting as mining crew members. The photograph is from the old days when this snow valley used to be a mining place. Heath tells her that Snow Valley was built on the old tunnels and was mainly used for mining purposes only. But, with time, the town turned into a skiing place that people visited for amusement and fun.
Heath says his father likes to keep the collectibles because it makes him feel complete as an American. Later that night, Heath proposes to marry Laura, and Laura agrees to it. However, at midnight, Laura hears a child seeking her help. Interestingly, when she wakes up, she finds nothing in the house. When she tells Heath about this, he ignores it, saying the sound was probably caused by the wind. However, Laura knows that something is not right in this house, and she starts doubting everything that moves inside the house.
Why is Laura shocked to meet with Elle?
Laura calls her younger sister Kiko and tells her about Heath’s proposal from last night. She also mentions Heath’s huge house and the impossible wealth that Heath owns. Kiko jokingly says that this is an advantage of dating Heath, and Laura should stop sounding like she is complaining because her boyfriend is very rich. Seeing Laura lost in her thoughts, Kiko asks if everything is alright, and right before Laura can tell her about the child’s voice from last night, the doorbell rings.
Laura opens the door, and an old lady introduces herself as Elle. She enters the house like she owns the place. When questioned she says that she lives in the house and she was here last night. Since she has forgotten her keys, she is required to use the front entrance to get inside the house. Elle lives separately, and she works as a caretaker of the house. Laura confronts Heath, saying that this is becoming very irritating for her, as she did not even know that there was someone inside the house the previous night.
What does Laura learn from Ed?
To calm Laura down, Heath surprises her with Anna and Brannon who are sort of their family friends and business partners. Laura is happy to see them, and together, they head to the pool. However, Brannon reveals that he has learned that Ed will also be joining them soon. Laura does not know anything about Ed, and from the vibe she acquires from the rest, she realizes that Ed is not good news. Heath and Brannon tell Laura that Ed is a mentally disorganized person who is very unpredictable.
Later, when Laura finally meets with Ed, she sees that others are not really wrong about him. Ed is carrying a gun, which is kept in a safe because others ask him to. Later, during dinner, Ed tells the history of Snow Valley, which shocks everyone. Laura learns that Snow Valley was an old Mine shaft that was used as a makeshift sanitarium for the mentally ill people. However, there was an explosion, which took their lives in one instant.
Ed restructures the whole story, saying that Google does not have the full information about the place. He says that the sanitarium used to run right under their feet, where they are sitting right now. When they were in high school, one of his friends, Clay, heard some screams coming out from the basement. Ed also says that during the time of the explosion, many miners from deeper tunnels were rescued. But, these mentally ill people were left there to die the most horrifying death.
Snow Valley (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
What happens to Brian?
Anna is fed up with Ed’s stories and asks him why no one wants him inside the house. Ed is shocked to know that he was not invited, and he removes himself from the dinner table. Later, Anna goes to apologize to Ed and does not return for a while. Brannon, Heath, and Laura go to find both of them when they hear a couple of gunshots and a child’s cry. Elle later joins them and tells Heath that he should not have kept a gun inside the house as his brother has escaped from his room.
Laura is surprised to know that Heath has a brother. Heath tells her that Brian is his stepbrother, and since he is mentally ill, he is always locked inside a room. Laura, as she has a soft corner for mentally disabled people, looks in different places for Brian. When she finally finds him, Elle intervenes, saying that Laura is here to take Brian away from her. Elle is about to kill Laura when Ed acts like a gunslinger and rescues Laura from the situation.
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At the end of the film, we see Laura breaking up with Heath because he is different from the man she has known so far. She later keeps Brian in a care facility, where she monitors him closely. When Laura was looking for Brian in the house, the identical men from the photograph were haunting her. But right after she hugged Brian and gave a notion that she was going to help him, the ghosts seemed impressed by her.
However, Laura never realizes whether the ghosts are real or not. The most important thing to her right now is Brian’s well-being, as the boy has been tortured by Heath’s family for so long. He deserves to be happy, and Laura will definitely make sure to do so.
