One week before Christmas, Ray is abandoned by her husband, a compulsive gambler, leaving her and their two sons behind in a run-down and indebted house. Ray is devastated and broke, and the creditors are scraping at her door. However, she refuses to let these circumstances ruin Christmas. But how far is she willing to go to prevent the TV from being taken away on Christmas Eve and to ensure that there is something under the tree for the children? After meeting Lila, an equally desperate Mohawk woman, Ray comes in contact with criminal elements. Soon she will cross lines she has never been close to before. We follow the journey with our hearts in our mouths.  

Frozen River is an entertaining, exciting, heartbreaking and, at times, amusing film. It explores unusual relations, challenges prejudices and is profoundly humanistic in its portrayal of people who are struggling to keep their heads above water. The film is a subtle study of ethics – on both sides of the law. Frozen River has been a success at film festivals across the world and is shown for the first time in Norway during Kosmorama.

Eli Gjerde