Wendy Carroll is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, for a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery—the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she faces a series of dire economic decisions.

Arriving on the cusp of the Great Recession, Wendy and Lucy struck a nerve with its stylistically subdued but emotionally powerful look at how American society lets some of its citizens fall by the wayside. And in the title role, indie queen Michelle Williams earned every rave she got.