Icebox is a 2018 HBO film about a young Honduran boy named Oscar (Anthony Gonzalez) who seeks asylum in America in order to escape a gang. At the US border, Oscar gets captured and spends the rest of the film cycling through the American immigration system. He's detained and spends time in a detention center, before being sent with his uncle so he can be put on trial.
Icebox provides examplea of:
- Bilingual Dialogue: The film is told mainly in subtitled Spanish, but it does contain a lot of English because it takes place mainly in America.
- Bittersweet Ending: Oscar is in America but he's denied asylum. He runs off to California with someone he doesn't know, where he's forced to live under the radar and isn't even allowed to go to school.
- The Bully:
- A teenager bullies Oscar and his younger friend Rafael.
- After learning he's a gang member, the other boys turn on Oscar. He even gets beat up in his sleep.
- Death of a Child: A Wham Line reveals that Oscar is on the run because he was involved in a schoolmate's murder. It's never mentioned what happened but it's implied Oscar shot him.
- Free-Range Children: Played for Drama. Oscar's parents can't follow him to America yet, so they send him on his own with only adult strangers beside him. He nearly gets killed when he gets lost in a desert.
- The Illegal:
- The film tells the story of a boy trying to seek asylum in America. He tries to get in illegally but ends up caught when he gets lost in the desert. In the end, he's not given asylum. To avoid deportation, he goes to live with a friend of his uncle's in a California sanctuary city.
- Oscar's uncle Miguel is an illegal immigrant working to get his green card. Even then, he's still terrified of police. He tries to stay as low as possible to avoid being deported.
- Kidanova: One of the minor characters can't be older than thirteen yet is already a flirt.
- Mark of Shame: At start of the film, Oscar is forcibly tattooed by gang members. This marks him as a gang affiliate.
- Nephewism: Oscar is sent to live with his uncle Miguel in Arizona. They spend less than a week together. Oscar is forced to go to California to escape being deported.
- Pop-Culture Isolation: Rafael is a fan of "American girls" like Taylor Swift. Oscar has no clue who Taylor is.
- Spiteful Spit: After throwing his juice at a bully's back, the boy comes back and spits in Oscar's face.
- Would Hurt a Child: Oscar escapes Honduras when he's forced to join a gang. The members threaten to hurt him and his family, so his best bet is to leave the country.
