Numb is a 2015 Thriller from Canada, made by director Jason R. Goode, and produced by Jenkinson/Goode Productions.
Will (Jamie Bamber) and Dawn (Stefanie von Pfetten) are a couple facing imminent foreclosure on their house, depending on Will's upcoming job. Will learns that he was not hired, the couple picks up a pair of hitchhiking siblings, Lee (Aleks Paunovic) and Cheryl (Marie Avgeropoulos), and they happen upon a clue to a buried haul of gold coins from a bank robbery two decades ago. Will's experience tells him that this is a foolish mission, but nonetheless, the four begin a trek across the Canadian wilderness, in the dead of winter, seeking buried treasure.
It goes badly.
No relation to the 2007 film featuring Matthew Perry.
This film exhibits the following tropes:
- Almost Dead Guy: They nearly run Cormac Leith down on the road. He dies on their way to getting him to help, but they find GPS coordinates on him, then learn he was involved in a robbery twenty years ago where the money was never found...
- Bookends: The film begins and ends with Will being questioned by the police about the events in the woods.
- Death by Materialism: Cheryl and Lee probably would have died anyhow, but trying to haul the canister of coins across the frozen lake doesn't help.
- Downer Ending: At the end of the film, Will learns that Dawn and everyone else are dead, and that no gold was ever found. The cops are lying about that last part because they want the gold for themselves.
- Gold Fever: The central conflict is driven by their search for the cache of gold coins.
- How We Got Here: Will wakes up in a hospital, being interviewed by police about what happened in the woods.
- One-Word Title: Numb.
- Nature Is Not Nice: The cold is not forgiving, even if they hadn't made several mistakes, like not securing adequate winter clothing.
- Never Trust a Trailer: The trailer makes it look like the four come upon criminals seeking the treasure, and are forced by them to search for it. In actuality, it's just a matter of greed and foolish optimism.
