[Courtney] Hunt’s drama is devastating, not because of the tragic twists, but because of the human reality of poverty and desperation, and the equally human triumph of generosity and sacrifice in the face of it.

| Nov 18, 2023

A gripping story.

| Jan 5, 2021

Leo's gritty authenticity ensures that Frozen River never loosens its icy, unbearably tense grip.

| Nov 23, 2020

Focused, poignant and expertly-crafted, Frozen River asks a great deal of an audience used to tales of triumph against all the odds and happy endings but it's about as rewarding a viewing experience as you're likely to find.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 30, 2019

Frozen River delivers a harrowing journey with just enough hope under the surface to make it a memorable ride.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 15, 2018

Melissa Leo must take at least as much credit for the film's successes as her director. She isn't merely tough as old boots - she makes old boots look like ballet shoes.

| Jul 6, 2018

Courtney Hunt's work is a dramatic thriller, but it is also a rich character study of a woman we have all met.

| Feb 5, 2018

... I thought the performances were good, but I just thought it could have done more.

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 12, 2017

This fine drama delivers a reality tougher than realism.

| Mar 6, 2015

Frozen River is bleak and uncompromising - and that's just how the Academy likes it.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 21, 2014

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 18, 2011

A pair of border-town losers come to represent everyone who's ever been up against it in this country, especially the women.

| Aug 15, 2011

Melissa Leo's Oscar-nominated performance as a mother not above illegal business, but resolutely clinging to honesty and not giving into hypocrisy, is terrific. Hope comes from hard sacrifice in a finale proving sometimes possessions are our blessings.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 24, 2010

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 8, 2009

Hunt's weakness for contrivance and underlined points threaten to elbow out her sensitivity

| Aug 26, 2009

Courtney Hunt's low-budget blue-collar thriller, Frozen River, is one of the most impressive feature debuts of the past several years.

| Jul 24, 2009

Actress Melissa Leo rightly earned an Oscar nomination for her part in this downbeat drama.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 24, 2009

Frozen River is a taut, suspenseful thriller; a troubling of borders both cultural and national; and testament to the virtues of communion, empathy and compassion.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 17, 2009

Original, sad, suspenseful and involving: the kind of work that helps independent American cinema retain its good name.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 17, 2009

Occasionally marred by contrivance and a crude internal logic that doesn't bear close scrutiny, 'Frozen River' works best as a knuckle-gnawing, blue-collar genre thriller.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 17, 2009