Thomas Haden Church shines bright in the snow filled murder drama Whitewash. The film, tells the tale of a snowplow driver who seemingly hits a man in the streets by accident,  and his poor attempts to hide the body and his plow truck as well. The drama is carried by Bruce (Thomas Haden Church) the lovable hap, who’s become a fugitive on the run in this photogenic debut from director Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais. The film begins in the dead of a winter’s night in Quebec, Canada, and being on the run takes Bruce instinctively to the forest to hide out.

The approach to this style of film is pretty unconventional, as details about the relationship between Bruce and victim (Marc Labrèche) is fed to us like breadcrumbs in short flashbacks. Bruce, throughout the duration of this film grapples with his guilt, and creates a prison from which he cannot escape mentality. Haden Church calls on his comedic timing and dry inflections in his voice, to get deep emotions across without much effort. 

Whitewash, at times plays like a well crafted short that was extended into a feature, with some scenes dragging on too long, or strips of action in the film feeling forced or contrived. Though the main character does make stupid decisions out of primal fear or ignorance, it often leaves the viewer wondering ‘is he that stupid?’ Bruce is a lost soul throughout the film and the answer is primarily a resounding yes, this is a strong debut from Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais, and an even stronger performance from Thomas Haden Church. This is one to watch during award season, with the right marketing, I could see this one being a dark horse for ‘best actor’ at the Oscars.