Frozen River (2008)

Set during a bleak and cold winter in upstate New York, a woman (Melissa Leo in an Oscar nominated performance) struggles to make ends meet and support her two sons (Charlie McDermott, James Reilly) after her husband abandons them. When she meets a Mohawk woman (Misty Upham), they embark on an illegal venture smuggling immigrants across the Canadian border into the U.S. Written and directed by Courtney Hunt, this gripping and gritty yarn takes us into a milieu rarely explored in mainstream cinema. There's an authenticity to the whole project so that it almost feels like you're watching a documentary. The film doesn't condescend to its poverty ridden protagonists as they might have been by a Hollywood treatment. Melissa Leo and Misty Upham give superb performances and one can believe the unlikely bonding between these two desperate women from different cultures. With Michael O'Keefe and Dylan Carusona.