When I was preparing my Oscar predictions I saw something odd. Under Best Actress was the name Melissa Leo for the film Frozen River, which surprised me for two reasons: this specific nomination had bypassed my attention, and I hadn’t even heard of the movie. But Frozen River is up for Best Original Screenplay too. It’s one of those sneaky films that somehow gets in under the radar and catches even the savvy off guard. So imagine my surprise when I walked into the video store in search of new material when I came across a title I recognized. What was Frozen River, I began to think. To my surprise it’s a treat of rare starkness and insight.

It’s a few weeks before Christmas and Ray Eddy (Leo) is struggling. The double-wide trailer she was buying for her family isn’t coming because the money she saved was taken by her deadbeat husband for a lost weekend of drinking and gambling. She has two kids to care for, and dwindling resources with which to care for them; even Ray’s 15-year-old son (Charlie McDermott) senses money issues and wants to quit school to help. A chance encounter with a Native woman, Lila (Misty Upham), shows Ray a path to some quick cash: transporting illegal immigrants from Mohawk reserves in Quebec to Upstate New York across the frozen St. Lawrence River.

So we have dual, timely themes about struggles in the global economic downturn and the ongoing issue of cross-border undocumented labour. Now, I could have sworn this was a Mexico-U.S. border problem, but since the Rio Grande doesn’t freeze, I guess the setting of choice is Canada. And to say that this get rich quick scheme is a way to make some quick cash is something of a misnomer. The journey is perilous in spite of the fact that travel on the ice is a frequent avenue for transportation. To do this, is an act of desperation and not just on the part of the poor immigrants. There are a million and one things that can go wrong, from the car going through the ice at a soft-patch to finding the right cop, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Like the name implies, the film is remarkably down beat and unglamorous. There are no heroes and no villains, just victims of one sort or another. The film makes no excuses either, this is life and in life there are consequences. Filmmaker Courtney Hunt avoids easy solutions and easier conflicts by portraying the relationship between Ray and Lila as one of mutual convenience, not realizing that they’ve developed a friendship until things get tough. There’s also no talk about pay days and getting rich, this is a survival measure for these women, and there’s no refracted glory by them thinking they’re living the lives of old-fashioned cowboys. There’s no rising action, no one last big score to Richesville and no kind of morality lesson. There’s simple acceptance, which in itself is something of wonder in the age of pass the buck.

There have been several potent films made lately about the topic of illegal immigrants, and none of them have panned out in the World according to Lou Dobbs model – thankfully. The bleak New York State winter is background and metaphor for a much colder reality and that’s the treatment of indigenous people and widening gulf between the haves and the have nots. The feeling of desperation is as pronounced as it is impalpable in Frozen River, and if it’s uncomfortable for the viewer, it’s because it feels a bit too real to not be taken seriously. With a solid script and solider acting, it’s no wonder that Frozen River eked out a bit of Oscar glory for itself. It’s well worth seeking out.