A retired, empty-nest couple takes a trip to Amsterdam to reconnect and enjoy each other’s company. But there’s an ulterior motive at play. The acting here is top-shelf, and there are some subtle questions about love, marriage and faith in the mix. But this is a slowly paced movie that requires thought and patience. There are also alcoholism and a bit of language to navigate.
It hasn’t been a bad marriage.
Many would look at Stella and Gerry’s 40-some-odd years together and think they had had a pretty good go of it. There were difficult and traumatic moments that befell the couple in their first year together, to be sure. But they don’t talk about those things. Those unfortunate struggles simply caused Stella and Gerry to leave their embattled home of Belfast and move to Glasgow, where they’ve been living in exile ever since.
Here in Scotland, they raised their son and worked diligently. Stella was a teacher, Gerry an architect. They lived, and they loved. So no, it hasn’t been a bad marriage. But it currently isn’t such a healthy one either.
Stella and Gerry are pleasant and kind to each other. They read, listen to music. Stella takes time for church while Gerry sits home and drinks—passing out and snoring loudly in the living room lounger. The days repeat and blur.
So in a way, when Stella makes up her mind to give Gerry a special “surprise” gift one Christmas morning, she had been considering the need to do something for a good long while. She decides on a surprise trip for two to Amsterdam. A first-class flight. A top-notch hotel.
When Gerry tears open the envelope nestled in the Christmas tree branches, he can’t help but beam with joy. What an incredible gift! They can sightsee. They can eat and drink. It will mean spending time together in the beautiful winter streets of Amsterdam. And who knows, it could help remind them both of the joys of their lifelong commitment.
However, there’s more to this trip than simply stirring up pleasant memories for Stella. There’s actually a very unpleasant memory that she’s been avoiding for so many years. A great failure on her part. Many years ago, during a life-and-death crisis, Stella struck a bargain. She made a promise. And she has failed to keep it.
For Stella, this trip will be about broaching that subject with her husband—and facing it herself. This is the final chapter for both of them. And she needs those last pages to have a point, to make a difference. How that will impact the two of them and their marriage will have to be seen.
No matter what, though, it hasn’t been a bad marriage.
Stella and Gerry may have slipped into some less-than-positive patterns in their lives together, but there’s no denying that they love one another. They repeatedly give voice to a loving mantra: “You and me. Me and you.”
Stella and Gerry joke comfortably, laughing together, embracing and kissing and considering each other’s needs. And though Gerry doesn’t quite understand what Stella is wrestling with—nor does he fully agree with her interpretation of past events—he tries to grasp how important it all is to her.
For her part, Stella is determined to do what she believes to be “the right thing.”
[Note: This section contains spoilers.]
Stella tells of a past life-and-death situation where she made a bargain with God to save the life of her preborn child—promising to dedicate her life to God thereafter. We see Stella going to church (she’s Catholic) and kneeling to pray on several occasions. But she believes that she has failed to fulfill her end of the “deal” because she hasn’t lived a life dedicated solely to God’s ministry. “I want to live a more devout life,” Stella tells her husband.
When Stella hears of the Begijnhof, a section of historic buildings in Amsterdam which once housed a religious order for women devoted to God, she believes that this may be the perfect place for her to spend her final years: a place of focused devotion and solitude. She and Gerry visit it and the Catholic church nearby.
Of course, faith and prayer are not transactional “deals,” and God is not a merchant to be haggled with. Rather, faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It’s defined by trust, humility and an unconditional belief in God’s character and goodness. So Stella’s perspective on what she owes is skewed. And that’s a point that Midwinter Break subtly hints at through the conclusion of the film.
For his part, Gerry is a man who keeps faith at arm’s length. He scoffs as Stella reads a story of a miracle. And he declares that the safe birth of their son was attributable to medical science—not some miraculous movement of God’s hand. In fact, Gerry earnestly declares to Stella, “Passing through this world with you, that’s the real miracle. The miracle is you!”
Still, Gerry’s derision of faith causes a rift between he and Stella that the two must deal with. And if necessary, Stella is willing to break her wedding vows in order to honor God. The end of the film suggests that she and Gerry may be able to work through their spiritual and marital differences.
During a church service, a priest raises questions about life. “What is your life?” he asks the congregants. “You are but a mist that appears for a little while then vanishes.” While visiting Anne Frank’s house, Stella leaves an earring in the building as a token, just as many others have done. She later berates herself for being selfish: “I’m not even Jewish,” she bemoans.
Stella talks to a woman who lives in the Begijnhof. But the woman tells her that the district is primarily affordable housing these days and not religiously focused.
Stella changes into a nightshirt in the background and out of focus, and the camera catches sight of her bare back. Stella and Gerry kiss on a number of occasions. In one scene, the couple lies down on their bed and holds hands while fully clothed. Then they embrace and kiss while pulling off their sweaters. The scene then cuts to later, when Stella and Gerry are in bed without clothes, covered by a sheet.
An inebriated Gerry slips in the hotel tub and Stella runs in to help him. We see his bare leg, stomach and backside as she helps him out of the tub. While on a date, Stella and Gerry walk through Amsterdam’s red-light district and comment on the women in the district’s windows. (We don’t see the window’s occupants.)
Flashbacks depict a terrorist shooting that happened 40 years before. In one flashback we see that a younger Stella was accidentally shot. She’s very pregnant and lying on the ground, praying and holding her blood-smeared dress front. Stella tells us that the bullet passed right through her without injuring her child.
While drinking in a pub, Gerry says that the Irish Republican Army burned down his place of employment in Belfast. A raging fire destroys an architectural model.
There is one use each of the f-word and s-word in the dialogue. God’s name is misused three or four times.
Gerry is unquestionably an alcoholic. We watch him drink profusely at pubs, and he fills his glass from a stashed bottle when Stella isn’t looking. He is regularly inebriated.
Late in the film, Stella says that she has long known that Gerry is an alcoholic. Gerry tells her, “I hate myself as much as you do when I’m drinking.” “Then why in heaven’s name do you do it?” she asks. “Because I hate myself even more when I don’t,” he answers.
Gerry takes prescribed medication before bed each night. Stella drinks a glass of wine and a shot of alcohol. We see others imbibing in a pub that Gerry and Stella visit.
Gerry and Stella joke about taking nausea meds on a flight, and Gerry jokes, “Please, God. Don’t let me vomit on this flight.”
Stella talks to Gerry about putting their flat up for sale so that she can move into an apartment of her own.
There’s nothing rushed about Midwinter Break. In fact, many will find the movie—based on the bestselling novel by Bernard MacLaverty—glacial in its pacing. It often feels like a collection of ambling scenes between a vacationing married couple as they eat, drink, look at landmarks and face a difficult time talking to one another.
Granted, Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds make those walking, scratching, politely smiling and chocolate-sharing moments appealing through the sheer force of their seasoned acting abilities. But this is not edge-of-your-seat stuff. And there’s a bit of foul language and some heavy drinking to wade through as well.
That said, there are subtly profound messages in this movie’s mix. As protagonists Stella and Gerry lightly brush across their long latent relational issues, the movie examines themes of enduring love and the struggles of growing older. It peeks at the destructive corruption of alcoholism. But most importantly, the film lets Stella wrestle with her longing for a deeper connection with God—and Gerry’s disdain for faith.
If viewers are patient and observant enough, the film lifts up subtle questions about God’s expectations of us and how we can serve Him through the support and love we give, the choices we make. Again, those speculative musings are as subtle as a gentle breeze whispering across Irish grasslands. But they’re there.
You just need to tarry on this cinematic hillside and listen.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
