PLOT: In this ’80s revenge story, the defiant Fox breaks out of an abusive commune in search of her family. But when the queenpin kidnaps her little sister and sends a crooked cop after her, Fox has no choice but to infiltrate the very place she escaped.
REVIEW: I always love a good crime film and have enjoyed Kiernan Shipka and Krysten Ritter for so long that Stone Cold Fox seemed like an ideal film for me. I also love a movie set in the 80s. Its plot is basic enough, with Fox (Shipka) stealing a duffel bag full of cocaine and trying to get away from her old life. Now her ex (and head of the criminal organization), Goldie, and a crooked Cop (Sutherland) are after her. They seemingly kidnap Fox’s sister and force her to confront her past.
It’s a pretty run-of-the-mill story, but that’s not always a bad thing, especially when you have such a stellar cast. Shipka is a fun, albeit vanilla lead. Her only bit of drive is more reliant on the audience not knowing something, versus her actually having a proper mission. Krysten Ritter’s Goldie is manipulative and abusive, but fails to really make a massive impact. Ritter is a bit too over the top, and feels a tad miscast, as she’s not a very believable crime boss. So, Fox running away from her doesn’t feel very tense.
Kiefer Sutherland is the standout of the film, as his Sergeant Billy Breaker is one bad dude. He’s a racist and is extremely corrupt. As someone who grew up with Sutherland as Jack Bauer, I always enjoy it when he takes a more villainous role. The writing lets him down a bit, as Breaker is pretty one-note, but his scenes are easily the most intriguing. I liked Jamie Chung as Officer Corbett, a cop who is suspicious of Breaker and is hot on his trail. But she could have been cut, and very little of the story would have changed.
Despite being set in the 80s, Stone Cold Fox tries to have this strange 60s/70s drug aesthetic at times. It’s got crazy tie-dye visuals, and even a bit of roller-skating disco. It feels like the editor is trying to add a bit of life to what is otherwise quite visually mundane. And there’s a persistent high grain filter that makes every shot look very soft. Many of the characters get an over-stylized introduction, which just adds to the odd tone of the film.
Sophie Tabet makes her feature directorial debut with Stone Cold Fox, and it’s a rather sterile affair. None of the characters have much life to them, and it’s hard to take the film very seriously. There are too many detours from the main story to make it feel like the stakes are high enough. It’s tonally inconsistent, and something about the visual style really threw me off. And the ending is an incoherent mess that tries to neatly tie up all its plot threads in a bow, resulting in a lot of silliness and some truly head-scratching moments.
Stone Cold Fox falls a bit on its face and, despite needing more personality to make it work, it’s all very generic. Nothing feels unique, and it’s all very “been there, done that.” Despite boasting a great cast, most of the characters blend together, and it can all be a bit nonsensical. It wants to be a cool crime thriller, but the poor writing prevents it from gaining any proper momentum. The cast does its best to elevate the material, but the short runtime prevents it from really grasping onto anything interesting. It lacks the crime element and tries to be quirky without understanding what that entails.
Stone Cold Fox releases on November 7th, 2025.
