The River

The River (1984) is an American drama from Mark Rydell that you can watch online on iFILM. A Tennessee farm family fights year after year to hold its land against a flooding river — and against the men who want that valley drowned for a dam.

Tom Garvey (Mel Gibson) and his wife Mae (Sissy Spacek) work the place alone, always one bad season from ruin. When the bank moves to foreclose, Tom takes a job at a steel mill as a scab, not realizing he's been hired to stand against workers just as desperate as he is. Back home, Mae holds the kids, the crops and the water that comes back every spring.

It's one of three 1984 farm-country films that put a face on how the big economy grinds down the small farm. Sissy Spacek earned an Oscar nomination, and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond shot the floods so the water on screen scares you more than any villain. A calm, patient drama for viewers who value human stories over spectacle. Stream The River (1984) online on iFILM.