Frozen River
A financially strapped Mother joins a Mohawk woman to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. Takes place in the days before Christmas near a little-known border crossing on the Mohawk rese…
Frozen River
A financially strapped Mother joins a Mohawk woman to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. Takes place in the days before Christmas near a little-known border crossing on the Mohawk reservation between New York State and Quebec. Here, the lure of fast money from smuggling presents a daily challenge to single moms who would otherwise be earning minimum wage. Two women - one white, one Mohawk, both single mothers faced with desperate circumstances - are drawn into the world of border smuggling across the frozen water of the St. Lawrence River. Ray and Lila - and a New York State Trooper as opponent in an evolving cat-and-mouse game. —anonymous Ray Eddy lives in a broken down mobile home with her husband Troy, and their two children, fifteen year old Troy Jr. (T.J.) and five year old Ricky, in the border town of Massena, New York. Just before Christmas, Troy, a gambling addict, deserts the family to an unknown destination like he has many times before to gamble away the family's money, which is little to begin with. The final payment is due on the new larger and more modern mobile home on which they've placed a down payment, money which Ray doesn't have, the substantial down payment which will be forfeited if the balance is not paid when due. Her job as a part-time clerk at a dollar store - a job which she's had for two years, and where she has long been promised full-time status without it happening - isn't even enough to put food on the table, she feeding the kids popcorn and Tang for dinner. Ray has an antagonistic initial chance encounter with a young Mohawk woman named Lila Littlewolf, she widowed with a one year old son, Jake. Lila, much like Ray, is in dire financial straits, with her mother-in-law having assumed custody of Jake. Despite their antagonistic feeling toward each other, Ray ends up joining Lila in her illegal activities in smuggling illegal aliens into the US from Canada driving across the frozen St. Lawrence River through the Mohawk Reservation, which straddles the border. Lila is doing it so that she can get Jake back from her mother-in-law, while Ray, knowing the dangers, only plans to do it until the final mobile home payment is made. Ray needs Lila as she knows the smugglers involved and knows the process, while Lila needs Ray as no one on the reservation will sell her a suitable car - with a trunk that opens with a pop button - knowing that she would be using it for such illegal activity, she having been caught and arrested before. Ray also being Caucasian lends an air of legitimacy to Lila's movements. As they get closer and closer to their end goals, Ray and Lila get a clearer picture of the very human stories of the people with who they are involved, and they may be willing to take increasingly greater risks to reach those goals faster. Through it all, T.J., who has no idea of his mother's illegal activities, may be ill prepared to be the man of the house, both in being the sole caregiver to Ricky and dealing with any issues of a financial nature and/or with the broken down mobile home. —Huggo Left all alone to take care of her two sons after her gambling-addicted husband abandons her, the hard-working and nearly penniless minimum-wage store clerk, Ray Eddy, is rapidly nearing her breaking point. Against the backdrop of unbearable insecurity in the snow-capped United States-Quebec border, the desperate mum crosses paths with the equally hopeless Mohawk mother, Lila Littlewolf, who introduces Ray into a lucrative ring of human traffickers who smuggle illegal immigrants across the frozen St. Lawrence River. Now, as an uneasy partnership forms, a reluctant Ray realises that driving people across the border in the boot of her inconspicuous Dodge Spirit pays well; however, she is still one run away from fulfilling her noble aspiration. Lila and Ray swear that this will be their final trip. Will the frozen river let them? —Nick Riganas Ray Eddy (Leo), an upstate New York trailer mom, is lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling. Broke after her husband takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide, Ray reluctantly teams up with Lila (Upham), a smuggler, and the two begin making runs across the frozen St. Lawrence River carrying illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the trunk of Ray's Dodge Spirit.
Frozen River
Crime,Drama
Film Details
A financially strapped Mother joins a Mohawk woman to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. Takes place in the days before Christmas near a little-known border crossing on the Mohawk reservation between New York State and Quebec. Here, the lure of fast money from smuggling presents a daily challenge to single moms who would otherwise be earning minimum wage.
Two women - one white, one Mohawk, both single mothers faced with desperate circumstances - are drawn into the world of border smuggling across the frozen water of the St. Lawrence River. Ray and Lila - and a New York State Trooper as opponent in an evolving cat-and-mouse game.
—anonymous Ray Eddy lives in a broken down mobile home with her husband Troy, and their two children, fifteen year old Troy Jr. (T.J.) and five year old Ricky, in the border town of Massena, New York. Just before Christmas, Troy, a gambling addict, deserts the family to an unknown destination like he has many times before to gamble away the family's money, which is little to begin with.
The final payment is due on the new larger and more modern mobile home on which they've placed a down payment, money which Ray doesn't have, the substantial down payment which will be forfeited if the balance is not paid when due. Her job as a part-time clerk at a dollar store - a job which she's had for two years, and where she has long been promised full-time status without it happening - isn't even enough to put food on the table, she feeding the kids popcorn and Tang for dinner. Ray has an antagonistic initial chance encounter with a young Mohawk woman named Lila Littlewolf, she widowed with a one year old son, Jake.
Lila, much like Ray, is in dire financial straits, with her mother-in-law having assumed custody of Jake. Despite their antagonistic feeling toward each other, Ray ends up joining Lila in her illegal activities in smuggling illegal aliens into the US from Canada driving across the frozen St. Lawrence River through the Mohawk Reservation, which straddles the border.
Lila is doing it so that she can get Jake back from her mother-in-law, while Ray, knowing the dangers, only plans to do it until the final mobile home payment is made. Ray needs Lila as she knows the smugglers involved and knows the process, while Lila needs Ray as no one on the reservation will sell her a suitable car - with a trunk that opens with a pop button - knowing that she would be using it for such illegal activity, she having been caught and arrested before. Ray also being Caucasian lends an air of legitimacy to Lila's movements.
As they get closer and closer to their end goals, Ray and Lila get a clearer picture of the very human stories of the people with who they are involved, and they may be willing to take increasingly greater risks to reach those goals faster. Through it all, T.J., who has no idea of his mother's illegal activities, may be ill prepared to be the man of the house, both in being the sole caregiver to Ricky and dealing with any issues of a financial nature and/or with the broken down mobile home. —Huggo Left all alone to take care of her two sons after her gambling-addicted husband abandons her, the hard-working and nearly penniless minimum-wage store clerk, Ray Eddy, is rapidly nearing her breaking point.
Against the backdrop of unbearable insecurity in the snow-capped United States-Quebec border, the desperate mum crosses paths with the equally hopeless Mohawk mother, Lila Littlewolf, who introduces Ray into a lucrative ring of human traffickers who smuggle illegal immigrants across the frozen St. Lawrence River. Now, as an uneasy partnership forms, a reluctant Ray realises that driving people across the border in the boot of her inconspicuous Dodge Spirit pays well; however, she is still one run away from fulfilling her noble aspiration.
Lila and Ray swear that this will be their final trip. Will the frozen river let them? —Nick Riganas Ray Eddy (Leo), an upstate New York trailer mom, is lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling. Broke after her husband takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide, Ray reluctantly teams up with Lila (Upham), a smuggler, and the two begin making runs across the frozen St.
Lawrence River carrying illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the trunk of Ray's Dodge Spirit..