What Breaks the Ice

As "What Breaks The Ice" (2021 release; 99 min.) opens, we are in Cold Spring Village, NY and summer has just begun, when the place receives all of the Manhattan families for the summer. A local girl, Sammy, strikes up a conversation with a Manhattan girl, Emily, and they hit it off. It's not long before they become BFFs, even though there is significant economy disparity between their respective families... At this point we're 10 minutes into the film.

Couple of comments: this is the feature-length debut from writer-director Rebecca Eskreis. (Even more noticeably, when the movie's end credits rolled, every single important position within the film's production and post-production is filled by a woman.) There are several familiar themes in this film, including the "coming of age" of two 15 yr old girls, the economic disparity between the 'poor' local girl and 'rich' out of town girl, etc. But the film does steer away from the predictable when about 40 min. Into it, there is an incident. OF course I'm not going to spoil what the incident is, but suffice to say that the impact on the two girls is enormous. Sofia Hublitz ("Ozarks"), who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Laura Dern, is outstanding as Sammy. Madelyne Cline (as Emily) looks a bit too old for a 15 yr old character. But in the end, what kept my attention in this film is the wonderful story-telling by Eskreis. Check out the scene late in the movie when a local female cop relays a story from her youth to Sammy. Just beautiful.

When the end credit rolled, the film has a 2019 copyright notice. I'm guessing its release was delayed multiple times due to COVID. "What Breaks the Ice" recently started streaming in Showtime, and is now available on SHO On Demand and SHO Anytime, where i caught it the other night. If you are in the mood for a coming of age story that comes with a different twist, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I really enjoyed this movie I never leave a review but why not this time. Two different young teenagers with different backgrounds and different personalities who became socially with one another in a corner store. Then started to hang out and they got close I don't want to spoil it for people that didn't see it because I can't stand when people do that. When that girl said you're my best friend I guess she meant it because these days you can't find no one loyal let alone a best friend . This movie gave trust, loyalty, grief, sexual abuse, p.t.s.d betrayal. I really enjoyed this movie I usually like suspense this is worth the watch.🎬

A wealthy girl comes to vacation and befriends a townie with issues. They spend most of the time partying, drinking and hanging out with boys. An incident happens, and they struggle to over come it and it ends with a very unrealistic ending. A pretty boring and pointless movie.

I'm writing this as I watch and I've just gotten to the big scene where "something" happens with Sammi's stepbrother (Travis) and Emily. I have no idea what. I've watched it twice and the low lighting still won't reveal the secret. No clue. Sammy is all teary eyed and she didn't even seem to like him. Emily is a zombie.

Now it's the morning after and neither girl is freaking out, scared. They don't even seem aware something happened. Radio silence.

Up until now it's been your typical Connecticut Yankee type of movie. Emily is rash and careless and knows she'll escape b/c she has money. Sammi is mostly the opposite. She knows she's stuck so she's a little more careful but can be tempted to the dark side.

There's jealousy from both girls. Emily has options. Sammi has freedom. Emily takes chances. Sammi sees repercussions. Emily gets to leave. Sammi has to stay.

There's romantic tension between Sammi and Travis, along with family tension and a divide about staying or going.

As the mystery unfolds, we see lots of flashbacks but the movie is lacking emotion. I know the director intended it to be there - the scenes suggest it should be, but it's missing. The one scene where I felt something is where Travis introduces music to a really sad scene - you can feel his intent and the results.

The scenery is beautiful - it's captured wonderfully in this small town that relies on seasonal tourism to breathe life into it. It's much like our two protagonists - one stuck, one flying by.

Writer/Director Rebecca Eskreis set out to leverage a suspense tale off the well-worn townie-vs-tourist theme, and pretty much succeeds. In a period where all the A-listers are now working in the streaming world, competent little films like this one are no longer quite as common as they used to be, with "new lows" being set daily in the indie world. Not only do the two young leads work well together, but Hublitz (of Ozarks fame) shows an authenticity that reminds one of a young Laura Dern, with a very promising career ahead. Thumps up.