Frozen River is set in the bitter cold of winter. The landscapes are stark. The lives the characters lead may be as cold and still as the ice that covers the river. There doesn't seem to be much hope for these people. They may at times show some false optimism, but that isn't the same as hope.

The film centers on Ray, whose husband has just run off to gamble away the money Ray has saved for a new doublewide trailer. She and her two sons live in a pretty run-down trailer. She ekes out a living working part time at the local dollar store. Christmas is coming, but they have nothing.

She meets Lila through some pretty bad circumstances. Lila is a Mohawk living on the reservation. The reservation is part in the U.S. and part in Canada. The Mohawks have the right to cross the border at will. This provides the potential for easy smuggling—alcohol, cigarettes, drugs. Lila cons Ray into making a trip across the river (and the international boundary). They pick up two illegal immigrants who ride back in the trunk. Ray wants nothing to do with this, but she discovers that there is money to be made and she wants that new trailer for her sons.

Lila and Ray are now both single mothers. Ray is trying as best she can to raise her sons. Lila's son has been taken by her dead husband's family. They won't let her visit her own child. They are both facing hard lives. But for all they have in common, there is much that separates them, especially race. They really don't even like each other. But Ray has the car and Lila has the contacts. It is a short-term business relationship. At first they are each in the relationship for selfish interests.

On one of the runs, something happens that changes their perspectives. It can easily be seen as a miracle (Lila's perspective) or as natural (Ray's perspective). But it gives them each a new sense of hope where before they only had desperation. In time, they learn that they have something to give to each other. They discover they can meet their own needs by what they give to the other.

There is much to be praised in this film: cinematography, performances, the story, and the way the tension is almost palpable at times. But most of all, this is a very human story. There is a reality in here that most films never even try to achieve. In this film, that humanity is bound in these two women as they strive to find the elusive fulfillment of their dreams. For Ray the dream is for that bigger, fancier mobile home (which represents giving her sons a better life). For Lila it is to regain her son, which can only happen if she becomes strong enough to make it happen.

It is hard to find hope when life is filled with desperation. Ray tries to be optimistic about getting more time at work—but knows that it won't happen. Lila seems to have resigned herself to her lot. When the miracle happens, it gives them both a chance to see that what is does not have to be what will be. Even the most somber and grim situation can have a positive outcome. Even when things go sour for them on one final run across the river, there is the hope that they will find some new life emerging from the tragedy.

In that we see the difference between hope and an unfounded optimism. All that time, they keep trying, following ways that they know will not finally bring what they want; they are doomed to live in failure. When they see the reality of hope and make that part of their lives, they have the chance of finding the new life—the blessed life—that they can give to and share with each other.