First Snow

In the eerie opening scene of Mark Fergus's FIRST SNOW, the camera winds through an unlit road at night. In voiceover, Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce) asks: “A man makes his destiny, right?” Days earlier, slick salesman Jimmy grumbles when his car breaks down in the New Mexico desert. While waiting for the car to be serviced, Jimmy wanders to the rickety trailer of an old fortuneteller. After forking over ten bucks, Jimmy chuckles as the man holds his hands and talks of the “future”-he will lose a bet and land a profitable deal with someone in Dallas. But when the psychic abruptly ends the reading and returns his pay, Jimmy leaves only slightly unnerved. In the following days, he thinks little of the incident until both of the predictions come true. Are these events just a string of coincidences, or is Jimmy fulfilling the prophecy? And why did the man return his money? Frightened, Jimmy seeks out the fortuneteller for more answers, but the old man cannot see anything beyond the first snow. As the temperature begins to drop, Jimmy becomes overwhelmed with fear-if you know your future, can you change it? – E.J.B.