In Cold Light

Maika Monroe anchors this terrifically tense thriller about a drug dealer just released from prison whose attempts to rebuild her empire turn toward death and disaster.

Ava seems at first glance like just a wisp of a girl — withdrawn, moody, timid even. But she’s got a thousand-yard stare that hints at the hard mettle inside. She’s not a particularly likable character, the sort who seems to wind up hurting everyone around her, even when she’s not trying to. Not infrequently, she is trying.

But as played by Maika Monroe in “In Cold Light,” Ava is a quiet force of power that we come to respect.

This terrifically tense thriller directed by Maxime Giroux from a script by rookie screenwriter Patrick Whistler contains plenty of action, but it’s really more of a psychological piece. Ava is an unrepentant drug dealer who ran a crew before being sent to prison for two years. Just released as the movie opens, she’s determined to rebuild her empire — even if she has to wrestle it away from her former partners, including her own brother, Tommy (Jesse Irving).

He tries to give her a payoff — $40 grand hidden inside a cheesy cowboy bust — but Ava’s not in a mood to deal.

It seems like things will come to a nasty head. But before she’s even made any moves, a rival operation co-headed by a dirty cop attacks them, leaving Ava alone and on the run, flirting with death and disaster at every turn.

It’s a taut piece of storytelling, flayed down to the bone, that focuses on Ava’s state of mind as she tried to save her own life while fighting for her family. It reminded me in a lot of ways of “One False Move,” which helped launch Billy Bob Thornton’s career.

It co-stars Oscar winner Troy Kotsur as Ava’s father, Will, a former rodeo star who’s trying to make a comeback at an advanced age. Their estrangement is deep and bitter, trailing back to the death of Ava’s mom when she was just a kid, about which Will harbors a load of misplaced anger.

They share a terrific confrontation scene where she shows up outside his house at night. The police have already been there asking after her, and Will is filled with rage at her latest failing. As he’s deaf, they communicate in increasingly volatile sign language, as the security light continually pops on and off, hiding and then revealing the anguish on their faces.

It’s a captivating performance by Monroe, who’s raised her profile since her breakout in “It Follows,” including an empathetic turn as a federal investigator in “Longlegs.” She doesn’t try to turn Ava into some kind of sympathetic waif, even when she has to go toe-to-toe with men who are looking to dominate and hurt her. Really, she seems the toughest person on the screen.

Allan Hawco makes for a hissable villain as the black-hatted detective chasing Ava around. He’s the sort of guy who’s used to always getting his way and doesn’t see a female ex-con like Ava as any kind of threat. She will change his mind about that.

Helen Hunt turns up late in the going after hearing her voice from time to time on the phone. It’s a very different sort of take on the shadowy boss figure we usually see in movies of this sort, and by underplaying Hunt only makes her character even more forbidding.

The film is set and shot in Canada, specifically the lonely plains north of Calgary. The rodeo backdrop gives it a vaguely Western feel, and Ava’s adroitness around animals and tools will redound to her advantage.

There’s not really a redemptive arc here — Ava is hard-bitten and probably unable to change — but over the course of her story her quest will change from one of simply staying alive and overcoming her adversaries to one of protecting her family. She’s still capable of heinous acts of violence, but now for the benefit of others besides herself.

Blade-sharp and lean, “In Cold Light” is a tight thriller featuring a woman you might not like, but surely won’t forget.