Best American Movies Made In The Snow

Many famous movies take place in snowstorms or were filmed in snowy settings. To identify the best of these films, I consulted a range of sources, including Rotten Tomatoes‘ “Snowed-In” Picks, IMDb 100 Best Winter and Snow Movies (2000 to 2017), Vulture’s 20 Essential Cold-Weather Thrillers, Slashfilm‘s 15 Best Winter Movies, Vogue’s “Sick of Holiday Fare? Cozy Up With These 22 Winter Movies,” and individual film reviews. Many of these films earned Oscars or Oscar nominations.

The Shining (1980)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson. Often appearing on best horror film lists, this is also considered one of Jack Nicholson’s finest performances. IMDb ranked it 48th on its list of 100 Best Movies Ever Made. A family caretakes an isolated hotel during a brutal winter storm, and madness ensues. The snow seals them in, turning the Overlook Hotel into a house of horrors. The iconic hedge maze chase in the blizzard is unforgettable. This film often tops “best snowstorm movie” lists for good reason—it’s chilling and iconic.

The Thing (1982)

Directed by John Carpenter, starring Kurt Russell. An Antarctic research team faces a shape-shifting alien during monstrous blizzards and complete isolation. The storm traps them, terror builds, and the cold proves as deadly as the monster. Survival tension in whiteout conditions defines this film. In 2025, it was chosen for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Bruce Dern. Bounty hunters and retired Civil War soldiers are trapped in a Wyoming cabin during a massive blizzard. This slow-burn Western features sharp dialogue, violence, and a storm raging outside. The snowy cinematography is stunning—it’s basically a stage play set in a whiteout. The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and received Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Leigh) and Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson). Telegraph critic Robbie Collin wrote, “The Hateful Eight is a parlour-room epic, an entire nation in a single room, a film steeped in its own filminess but at the same time vital, riveting and real. Only Tarantino can do this, and he’s done it again.”

Fargo (1996)

Directed by Joel Coen, starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, and Harve Presnell. This dark comedy-crime film set in snowy Minnesota follows a failed kidnapping amid blizzards and frozen landscapes. Frances McDormand’s pregnant cop navigates the chaos brilliantly. The film has an extremely high 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing. Frances McDormand won the Oscar for Best Actress. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert called Fargo the best film of 1996.

Misery (1990)

Directed by Rob Reiner, starring Kathy Bates and James Caan. Based on a Stephen King story, this film follows a famous author who crashes in a snowstorm and is “rescued” by his obsessive fan. She keeps him trapped as the weather rages on. An intense psychological thriller, the storm prevents his escape and adds to the claustrophobia. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for Best Actress.

Groundhog Day (1993)

Directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. A cynical weatherman relives the same day in Punxsutawney (the official home of the Groundhog Day tradition) during a snowstorm that prevents him from leaving. Murray’s frustration grows, but he eventually falls in love with MacDowell’s character. The movie appears on Time Magazine’s All-Time 100 Movies list. Time writes, “The script for this 1993 film, by Danny Rubin and director Harold Ramis, superbly balances comedy and philosophy.” Tom Hanks was originally considered for Murray’s role. Hal Hinson of The Washington Post wrote, “Harold Ramis’s brilliantly imaginative, wildly funny new comedy starring Bill Murray demonstrates that there is something even more horrible—knowing exactly what’s going to happen next.”

Snowpiercer (2013)

Directed by Bong Joon Ho, starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Go Ah-sung, John Hurt, and Ed Harris. In a post-apocalyptic frozen world, survivors live on a perpetually moving train where class warfare erupts onboard. The eternal winter storm outside serves as the backdrop—visually epic and thematically heavy. The film has a high Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%. New York Times critic A.O. Scott wrote, “And if acting is your thing—or at least the particular pleasure of watching first-rate screen performers ham it up in a busy genre setting—’Snowpiercer’ will not disappoint.”

The Revenant (2015)

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. An 1820s frontiersman is mauled by a bear, left for dead, and fights for survival in brutal wilderness blizzards. The movie received 12 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Hardy). It won Academy Awards for Best Director (Iñárritu), Best Actor (DiCaprio), and Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki). The film grossed $533 million worldwide. On the New York Times’ list of the 500 best movies of the 21st century, it ranked 271st.