Emma Thompson was joined by her daughter Gaia Wise, husband Greg Wise and mother Phyllida Law at the UK premiere of Dead of Winter on Monday, turning the London screening into a family affair.
The screening took place at Picturehouse Central and brought together three generations of the family on the blue carpet. Thompson, 66, and her 25-year-old daughter posed for photographs together after appearing in the film as the same character at different ages.
Thompson wore a white three-piece suit embroidered with green detailing for the occasion. Gaia Wise chose a black strapless dress and matching heels. Greg Wise, Thompson's husband of 20 years, attended in a printed zipped jacket, and Thompson's mother, actress Phyllida Law, 93, arrived in a wheelchair. Photographs from the event showed the family in high spirits; Gaia planted a kiss on her grandmother's cheek as they greeted photographers.
In Dead of Winter, Thompson plays a widow travelling alone through snowbound northern Minnesota who interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl. Cut off from the nearest town and without phone service, her character comes to realize she is the young girl's only hope. Gaia Wise portrays the younger version of Thompson's character, charting a trajectory from a once-happy life through trauma to a figure capable of sacrifice. The film has been described by filmmakers as exploring the darker side of human nature and revenge narratives while centring the heroine's resilience.
Gaia Wise made her acting debut on television in the BBC series Silent Witness and has since expanded her credits to include voice work in the anime feature The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. She has publicly discussed a long recovery from anorexia, which began at age 16. In interviews, including one published in 2021, she described a family intervention that led to a three-month stay in rehabilitation beginning in late December 2017. She has credited intensive therapy and her family's support with saving her life.
Phyllida Law, a veteran actress whose credits include a role in Much Ado About Nothing alongside her daughter, attended the premiere with family members. Greg Wise, an actor who has appeared in projects such as Walking on Sunshine and who previously competed on Strictly Come Dancing, accompanied Thompson and their daughter to the event.
Other guests at the screening included former Sky Sports News presenter Charlotte Jackson, who attended in a form-fitting black gown. Photographs from the premiere showed the cast and family members posing together ahead of the screening.
Dead of Winter adds to a recent slate of films exploring isolated, high-stakes narratives that hinge on character-driven tension. The premiere in London offered an opportunity for the cast and the family members who appear in the film to present it to a UK audience, and for Thompson and Wise to be seen together on stage and screen as iterations of the same central character.
No release date for a wider distribution was announced at the London premiere. The film’s reception at the Picturehouse Central screening will be among the early indicators of how audiences and critics respond to the performances and the film’s thematic focus on survival and revenge.