Movies Like Frozen River (2008)

Frozen River is a 2008 crime, drama film from Courtney Hunt with a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with El Norte and Borderline.

Crime Drama

El Norte

1983

Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life.

7.1

MagicScore

Borderline

1980

Jeb Maynard is a patrolman guarding the U.S.-Mexican border, whose partner and buddy Scooter has just been murdered. Maynard knows that a smuggler of illegal aliens is responsible for Scooter's death, but the feds insist that drug dealers committed the crime.

6.0

MagicScore

The Border

1982

A corrupted border agent decides to clean up his act when an impoverished woman's baby is put up for sale on the black market.

6.1

MagicScore

Undocumented

2010

A documentary film crew runs afoul of sadistic radicals when they follow illegal immigrants sneaking over the U.S. border.

6.0

MagicScore

Border Incident

1949

The story concerns two agents, one Mexican (PJF) and one American, who are tasked to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border to California. The two agents go undercover, one as a poor migrant.

6.9

MagicScore

The War Boys

2009

David, George, and Greg, best friends since high school, are “The War Boys”. They used to perch on the US-Mexican border, waiting to spot illegal immigrants who were trying to run into the United States. Sometimes, without a thought for the immigrants, the boys chased them across the wasteland and back across the border – just for fun. It was just one of those games boys played to make themselves feel big. But high school’s over now. David is unexpectedly home from his freshman year of college and the War Boys have been reunited.

5.9

MagicScore

In the Heights

2021

The story of Usnavi, a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic or staying in Washington Heights.

7.1

MagicScore

The Order of Things

2017

An immigration agent is torn between the job and his humanity.

6.5

MagicScore

Joy

2018

Close to paying off her debts, a Nigerian sex worker in Austria coaches a reluctant novice, and assesses the risks of taking a faster path to freedom.

5.9

MagicScore

#10

Dolan's Cadillac

2009

Robinson, a once peaceful, law-abiding school teacher, has turned into an obsessed vengeance machine, intent on killing the man who murdered his wife - ruthless Las Vegas mob boss James Dolan. But to do so, Robinson must infiltrate the dangerous underworld, and devise a diabolical plan that will bury Dolan once and for all.

5.9

MagicScore

#11

Shaft in Africa

1973

Detective John Shaft travels incognito to Ethiopia, then France, to bust a human trafficking ring.

6.0

MagicScore

#12

Wendigo

2002

A family from the city decide to spend a weekend away at a friend's country farmhouse. But a fluke accident sets off a chain of events that alters their lives forever and conjures up the ferocious spirit of the Wendigo.

4.7

MagicScore

#13

War Pony

2023

The interlocking stories of two Lakota boys growing up on Pine Ridge Reservation. At 23, Bill just wants to make something of himself. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Matho can’t wait to become a man. Bound by their shared search for belonging, each of the boys grapple with identity, family, and loss, as they navigate their unique paths to manhood.

6.4

MagicScore

#14

Which Way Home

2009

Follows unaccompanied child migrants, on their journey through Mexico, as they try to reach the United States.

7.7

MagicScore

#15

A Girl at My Door

2014

Sent from Seoul to serve in a remote coastal village, a policewoman gets involved in the life of a mysterious teenage girl who is abused by both her father and her grandmother.

6.9

MagicScore

#16

Nanny

2022

Aisha, a Senegalese immigrant who takes a job as a nanny for a wealthy white family in New York City, finds herself consumed by unsettling visions and a growing rage.

5.3

MagicScore

#17

Down to the Bone

2004

A woman stuck in a stale marriage struggles to raise her children and manage her secret drug habit. But when winter comes to her small town, her balancing act begins to come crashing down.

6.4

MagicScore

#18

Make Up

2020

After Ruth moves in with her boyfriend in a remote holiday park, tensions rise as she makes an unsettling discovery that lures her into a spiral of obsession.

5.8

MagicScore

#19

Joe Dirt

2001

Joe Dirt is a janitor with a mullet hairdo, acid-washed jeans and a dream to find the parents that he lost at the Grand Canyon when he was a belligerent, trailer park-raised eight-year-old. Now, blasting Van Halen in his jacked-up economy car, the irrepressibly optimistic Joe hits the road alone in search of his folks.

5.6

MagicScore

#20

Eden

2013

After a night out with friends, Hyun Jae accepts a late night ride home from a young fire fighter. What begins as a night of promise quickly turns into a nightmare when she is abducted and imprisoned outside Las Vegas as a sex slave.

6.5

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Frozen River?

The top films similar to Frozen River by MovieMagicScore are El Norte (7.1), Borderline (6.0), The Border (6.1). Each shares crime/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Frozen River worth watching?

Frozen River holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10 from 339 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Frozen River?

Frozen River (2008) is a crime, drama film directed by Courtney Hunt, starring Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott.

Where can I find more recommendations like Frozen River?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more crime recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like El Norte Movies like Borderline Movies like The Border Movies like Undocumented Movies like Border Incident Movies like The War Boys

About movies like Frozen River

This ranked list pairs Frozen River (2008), a crime and drama film from Courtney Hunt, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Melissa Leo take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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