The Snowman” Thrills Exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas Nov 22

Based on Jo Nesbo’s global bestseller, Universal Pictures’ terrifying thriller The Snowman, starring Michael Fassbender and Rebecca Ferguson, will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Trinoma, Glorietta 4, Market! Market! and Fairview Terraces) starting November 22.

Also starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chloe Sevigny, Val Kilmer and Academy Award® winner J.K. Simmons, The Snowman is directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

In the film, a sociopath who calls himself “The Snowman Killer” has targeted the one person for whom he wants to show off his methodical, unthinkable skills: the lead investigator of an elite crime squad. With cunningly simplistic baits such as “Mr. Policeman, I gave you all the clues…” he begs to have a worthy opponent to play his sick game.

For Detective Harry Hole (Fassbender), the murder of a young woman on the first snow of the winter feels like anything but a routine homicide case in his district. From the start of the investigation, The Snowman has personally targeted him with taunts—ones that continue to accompany each new vicious murder.

Fearing an elusive serial killer long-thought dead may be active again, the detective enlists brilliant recruit Katrine Bratt (Ferguson), to help him connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new ones. Succeed, and they will lure out the psychopath that’s been watching them from the shadows for who knows how long. Fail, and an unthinkable evil will strike once again during the very next snowfall.

The Snowman, the seventh book in Jo Nesbø’s best-selling Harry Hole series, has enthralled global audiences since it was first published in 2007. The novel took the beleaguered detective and his creator to an entirely new level and readership, and it topped The New York Times Best-Seller list in U.S.—as well as marked Nesbø’s first No.1 in the U.K. charts and firmly establishing his place as one of the elite international crime writers.

Director Tomas Alfredson discusses that his approach to filmmaking is to guide the audience through his work, but never decide what each individual should experience. This commitment to his craft leads the filmmaker to be quite selective in the stories he chooses to tell. Alfredson admits he found Nesbø’s protagonist to be riveting.

“When I read a story, I try to find an animal for each character. Is he or she a rabbit, wolf, dog or a cat? Not visually, but the soul of a certain animal. To me, Harry is an owl; he is someone people don’t see, but who sees everyone else. He’s very smart and silent; he knows when to speak and when to interact. But he also feels alienated with the rest of the world. His private life has fallen into pieces, and the only thing that works is his intuitive talent as an investigator.”

“The Snowman does have that other element that previous books don’t have, and that is the horror element,” adds Nesbø. “The title ‘The Snowman’ conveys a certain image, as does the idea of an innocent thing that is taken out of context and put in a new context; the more cozy and familiar it is, the scarier it becomes.”

Discussing handing over the reins of a cherished property to another creative team, the author reflects: “They chose a director who is a storyteller in his own right and who isn’t there just to give a version of the book, but who wanted to use the book as input for his story. As a storyteller myself, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Tomas’ understanding and my trusting him made it easy for me to say ‘Take these pages that are written and use them as a helpful input for a story that you want to tell.”

The Snowman is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.