Often compared to Mark Twain’s Huck Finn, or harkening to Annie Oakley, Once Upon a River is, the words of Jane Smiley for The New York Times, “an excellent American parable about the consequences of our favorite ideal, freedom.”[7] The soundtrack is made of original songs composed for the film by Will Oldham, Rodney Crowell, Peter Bradley Adams, Zac Rae, JD Souther and Haroula Rose.

“Once Upon a River” is a living prose poem filled with beautifully framed images and featuring some of the strongest writing and acting you’ll find in any movie this year.

It’s not to be missed.”[11] Cath Clarke of The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, writing, “Mark Twain meets Winter’s Bone in this slice of Americana from first-time feature director Haroula Rose.

It opens with a Terrence Malick-ish monologue by 15-year-old Margo (Kenadi DelaCerna): “I missed momma, the way she smelled of cocoa butter and white wine.” A tough, resourceful teenager, Margo lives in a rundown town on the banks of the fictional Stark river in Michigan – the kind of place where skeletons of old cars pile up in front yards.

Her mom ran out a year earlier (“The river stink drove her crazy”), leaving Margo and her Native American dad Bernard (Tatanka Means).”[12]