15 Most Exciting Movies Coming In February 2020

The remake of the critically acclaimed Ruben Ostlund film Force Majeure, Downhill seems to be the rare American attempt at replicating a foreign work's success that seems to justify its own existence.

Pivoting the original's complicated balance of tones to a more mainstream attempt at humiliating comedy could go either way, but the strengths of Will Ferrell and Julia Louis Dreyfus seem to ensure that it will at the very least be entertaining.

The original explored the passivity of modern masculinity, with judgment being inflicted on the husband by himself and those around him for not fulfilling the assumed role of the patriarchal figure and prioritising his family over himself. When it seemed like an avalanche was about to hit his entire family, the man ran away, leaving them behind to cope on their own terms, and despite nothing happening, he has to live with that burden on his chest throughout the remainder of their trip.

Downhill looks to follow similar grounds, although it seems to be focused less on the grander idea of masculine idealisation and more on the detailed intimacy issues that an incident like that can take on a relationship.

The comic potential of both performers means that it will easily be entertaining on a comedic scale, but writer/directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash have shown trademark compassion and nuance in their previous film The Way, Way Back. It wouldn’t be surprising if this was quietly melancholic and emotional underneath all the chaos.