After her husband deserts her, working-class mother Ray Eddy is in great need of money to find a home. Lured by the possibility of easy cash, she joins Lila, a widowed Mohawk who earns a living by smuggling immigrants from Canada to the U.S. across the St. Lawrence.
Acting
Melissa Leo's ferocious, Oscar-nominated desperation.
Direction
Courtney Hunt makes frozen rivers genuinely terrifying.
Production
Shot in actual subzero conditions—no faking that misery.
Director
Courtney Hunt
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Melissa Leo bought her own Oscar campaign ads after the studio refused—she won Best Supporting Actress two years later for The Fighter.
The St. Lawrence River border is legally disputed Mohawk territory, which Hunt uses to question who 'illegal' even applies to.
US
