This is a problem faced by Cold Weather, the new film from writer-director, Aaron Katz, which collides lo-fi aesthetics with the narrative trappings of the detective thriller. When scrutinised on such a modular level, the film seems to be worryingly close to Brick, the 2005 neo-noir that transported hardboiled Raymond Chandler-isms to a suburban American high school. However, thankfully, Cold Weather has qualities wholly its own. With its gentle pacing and subtle, deadpan humour, Cold Weather slowly builds up our relationship with its characters and their odd chemistry. It shows great confidence for Katz to frontload the film in such a way, but both Lankenau and Dunn are on point, crafting the siblings’ life of idle distraction out of conversations that go nowhere, and dull, slightly awkward silences. So, when the mystery plot does hit, it almost doesn’t matter that it is underdeveloped, at least by genre standards, because the humour and the characters are so well judged and so well communicated that we are swept up in their fumbling enthusiasm The mystery itself, which features a suitcase of money, messages in code, secret meetings and a missing girl (who, in fact, isn’t missing at all), is immaterial. It certainly isn’t a head-scratcher, or an intrigue-laden thrill ride. This is ho-hum, drab reality, with the muggy, industrial Portland landscape never daring to develop from naturalism to noir. The payoff here is seeing these characters caught up in the excitement and adrenaline of the investigation, with their aimless lives given renewed purpose. That the narrative concludes with a giddy, but entirely one-sided car chase confirms this, as the erstwhile slackers experience what, for them, is a high stakes caper. Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here.