User reviews

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.

A complete nothingness of a movie with nothing to root for, nothing to remember besides very dark screen at night and bright one at day with sad, sad, sad faces. It's not even depressing, it's a compote of psychology, girls in their twenties who look like thirties and so much slow-paced edited cuts that after a while you just see the colors of the photographies, their clothes, furnitures, asphalt and trees.

Glad that it wasn't made as a mini series.

• Screenplay/story: 3
• Development: 6
• Realism: 4.5
• Entertainment: 2
• Acting: 4
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 4.5
• Visual/special effects: 4
• Music/score: 5.5
• Depth: 5
• Logic: 4
• Flow: 1.5
• Drama: 2
• Ending: 1.

I though the movie was good. Decent plot line and edge to it. The writers could have done better to explain what was actually happening vs what the characters believed and knew. But the actresses played it well and if you pay enough attention yourself it's easy to get it.

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.

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.

This movie is so stupid. It's supposed to be an intense thriller but there's not one plot twist, everything is so predictable. It starts off so slow and half of the scenes weren't even needed then some dude randomly gets killed by a weak punch or something which makes no sense and they keep showing a bunch of pointless flashbacks when I'm just curious about the present. The ending is just really dumb. They constantly change their stories but the police just don't question it at all. Overall this movie is very boring and dumb and I have no idea why it's rated so high.

I saw it at the Woodstock Film Festival premiere tonight and was not disappointed. I, too, was an extra in the film (since I worked at one of the locations it was filmed) so I'm a bit biased, of course, but I thought it was so well done. I loved it. The cast, the shots of the Hudson Valley, and the story were compelling, beautiful, and heartwrenching. Thank you to all involved - I'll always have fond memories of you shooting the film at my workplace and then finally having a chance to see it two years later. Congratulations!

Greetings again from the darkness. We've seen movies where the seasonal residents interact with the locals, and often the class differences come into play. The term for northerners who head south for the winter is 'snowbirds'. In the Hudson Valley, we learn the 'townies' have a nickname for the rich folks who come for the summer ... 'Joy Riders'. This is the first feature film from writer-director Rebecca Eskreis, and she displays a real feel for the contrast that exists between these two groups.

Madelyn Cline (BOY ERASED, 2018) stars as Emily, one of the wealthy 'joy riders' who befriends local townie Sammy (Sofia Hublitz, who is so good as the daughter in "Ozark"). For no good reason, other than Madelyn's boredom, the two girls become friends. They hang out, play tennis, and have lunch together. One night they are at a party and things go bad with Sammy's creepy stepbrother Travis (Joel Allen, THE PURGE, 2019). The event not only tests the friendship of Sammy and Emily, but also reveals character and secrets from the past.

The film opens with a cool shot of Hudson Valley, and in fact, cinematographer Greta Zozula does a nice job through the entire film. As you would expect with teenagers, things get complicated, and the class difference is only part of what makes the story and characters interesting. Supporting roles are filled by Lukas Gage ("The White Lotus"), Aimee Mullins ("Stranger Things"), and Shakira Barrera ("GLOW"), but most of the heavy lifting here comes courtesy of Ms. Cline and Ms. Hublitz, despite both being a bit too old to play teenagers.

Not quite at the level of THOROUGHBREDS, a similar movie from 2018, the film certainly proves Rebecca Eskreis is a filmmaker to follow. She understands small town dynamics, class disparities, and female friendships ... and does so in a way that's grounded and realistic. There is no staginess to this production, and we have a real feel for the characters almost immediately - a tribute to the actors and the script.

In theaters and on Digital beginning October 1, 2021.

It's a great first hour of character building and acting. Super enjoyable drama and coming of age story. Once they introduce the lady detective the movie turns into a flaming pile of poop.

Why do writers want to force emotion and drama and use bad premises to do it. It's just crap man. The 2 lead actors are great and the first hour is also, but the last third ruin the entire movie and I can't give it a good rating. The end.

This was the slowest, most boring movie ever. Don't get me wrong, it had its moments and it comes together toward the end but for the first like 45 minutes it's nothing but the same thing over and over. I was so close to turning it off but I hung in there.

Honestly speaking, Catherine Curtin was miscast for this role. I absolutely adore her in OITNB but this was not for her. She didn't embody the role, and I didn't feel her as a mom (which I get the whole 90's housewife thing and how they were toward their daughters) but I didn't even get the typical wealthy white 90's mom from her. But what's done is done.

I can go into more about this but IMDB doesn't pay me to leave reviews so I'll stop here.

Three because it wasn't terribly bad and I appreciate the effort.

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.🎬

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.

The 2 leads are very good actors , a decent plot and well put together .... I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't based on true events .... no wow factor .... no fantastic them music.... and cinematography was ok.

The movie was surprisingly good. Refreshing to watch something new after the pandemic binge watching. Don't hate the 90's throwback.

This is a very thoughtful movie, beautifully made and yes, rather slow. This isn't a movie for a John Wick audience. But that shouldn't deter you from watching. The sensitive and authentic portrayals of the two teenaged girls hooked me from the start. I found it interesting to watch their friendship unfold, and ultimately transform, because it seemed so real that you forget these are actors. But I am begging authors and film makers to please take more time to think about the names of your works. Anything that starts with "what" or "when" or "how" followed by some vague phrase is immediately forgettable. If I wanted to recommend this film to my friends, I wouldn't be able to, because I can't rem7 TV byember the name. And what does ice have to do with it?

By the the two female main actresses, in this teenage summertime drama, where rich mingles the ''poor ruralist'' in a place called yorktown, up northeast N. Y., a rural environment thats known for its beauty and silence and recreational opportunities, where the rich comes to their summerhouses to spend their summertime there.

So as a beautiful friendship blossoms between the rich and the poor, the stakes are high and the lingering feeling of independence hits both as love strikes a bolt in their relationship, and on top of that lots of alcohol and stuff makes decision making consequencefilled. An accident happens in affect with tragic outcome, and the balance between rich and poor is put to the test...

so if youre in your summer cabin for the autumn holiday, do consider using a time off to view this drama even though you might think this is just another teenage drama, but its a strong and relatable story that youll drag to your heart, because all the signs of teenage hormonal and experimental uproar and freedome seeking that all of us elders can reminisice and relate to, and the young ones of today might take notice from. Even though its a bit twisted in the end and there are some abrupt flashbacks and a lack of a smooth timeline to the story, its still hangs on to me ''the day after''.

So being named the guru, when we had an urdu/weak norwegian speaking doctor many years ago at my nursing home workplace, the grumpy old man thinks this is a wellmade, a high risk income project, that will be recognized for a great casting, lovely score selection ,by the mingling of two different universes of economy,emotions and family structures, and most of all a profound friendship, therefore a huge recommend.

I found this movie to be heartwarming, thrilling, and sad at times. It was full of twists and turns. It truly delineates the bond between girls, and how quickly a friendship can both grow and dissolve. It also brought back memories of what the 90's were like, too. It is a story about love, joy, despair, and loss. I loved that it allowed me to feel several different emotions for each of the characters. It was well-written, acted, and directed. I recommend this movie to anyone that has experienced conflicting feelings about friendship, family, and most of all, loss. I found it to be cathartic.

I thought it was subtle & unexpected. Their bond was real & actually very loyal. The two leads were excellent & I look forward to more from both. I was confused for a bit, but it all came together in a really unique way. Also it was an authentic take on teenagers in general.

I was surprisingly drawn in by the plot and performances in this excellent indy film. It's set in the late 90's (which as a millennial always draws me in), and tells a really fascinating coming of age story.

Love a female driven narrative with a largely woman led production team, including the director. 10 out of 10 would recommend.