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The term ‘black ice’ refers to a transparent form of ice that, with its slick surface and unnoticeable appearance, causes numerous road accidents in colder climes. It’s not the most subtle title for a film about marital infidelity, convoluted deceptions, and their destructive outcomes, then. Set in an austere-looking Helsinki, the film opens to married couple Leo (Martti Suosalo) and Saara (Outi Mäenpää) arguing over the discovery of a used pack of condoms. When she subsequently tracks down her architect husband’s 20-something mistress, Tuuli (Ria Kataja), Saara adopts a new name, befriends the possibly unsuspecting young woman, and schemes to coax back – or perhaps tear into – her husband’s heart.

By conjuring an atmosphere as chilling as the frozen landscape, director Petri Kotwica vigilantly turns soap opera material into an engaging psychological thriller. In fact, the script of Black Ice is so precisely crafted that even the two women’s occupations – Saara a gynaecologist, Tuuli a martial arts teacher – pull emotional punches. Although the duo’s calculated friendship is a gripping watch, you have to wonder if the fuss is worth it in the first place, with Leo an unmistakable jerk of a man, who just wants to “fuck a little sometimes.” As Kotwica repeatedly teases his audience with the characters’ shifting degrees of comprehension, Black Ice’s narrative absurdity and bamboozlements may leave you more dazed than enchanted.

Edmund Lee

Dir Petri Kotwica, Category III, 110 mins, opens Thursday 18