In Shattered Ice, the suicide of a hockey player leaves a small town in shock.

      When Jake Miskin was a high school athlete, five of his classmates took their own lives in his small town in Massachusetts. He aimed to tell the story he wished they could have seen, one that might have offered them hope. The outcome is the poignant and insightful Shattered Ice, which had its world premiere on Monday at the Sedona International Film Festival.

      The film employs sports as a metaphor since, as Miskin mentioned during a post-film Q&A on Monday, sports are often where "many kids experience their first heartbreak, make their first friends, and face their first challenges in life." Shattered Ice centers on a high school hockey player named Will Mankus (portrayed by breakout star Charlie Gillespie, a seasoned hockey player himself), who struggles immensely after the suicide of his best friend and teammate, Danny (played by Sterling Beaumon).

      Will becomes withdrawn and turns to whiskey, feeling guilty for not recognizing the warning signs. This sentiment resonates with others in the film’s fictional town of Nehoiden, which mirrors Miskin's actual hometown of Needham, a Boston suburb known for its reserved nature and passion for winter sports. Miskin hopes that Shattered Ice can help shatter the metaphorical ice surrounding the often taboo subjects of mental illness and suicide.

      “It’s inspired by my hometown, where we lost five students to suicide while we were in high school,” he shared in the Q&A with festival executive director Patrick Schweiss. “I always wanted to tell a story about the discussions that my friends or our community were or weren’t having, illustrating how people grieve in different ways.”

      The film focuses more on the aftermath of a suicide rather than the specific reasons behind it. The town of Needham came together to assist him in telling the story: Miskin and co-producer Benjamin Stephen raised funds through grassroots community efforts—such as raffles and outreach to local charities and investors—and utilized local businesses after hours.

      (Your correspondent from Massachusetts first encountered Jake when I overheard him pitching Shattered Ice at a local breakfast spot, Bagel’s Best, which appears in a significant scene in the film.)

      While raising funds, Miskin and his team worked to recruit the skilled director Alex Ranarivelo, known for sports dramas such as Born a Champion and The Ride, as well as a talented cast that includes Matt Letscher from The Flash and Suits, actress Kyla Kenedy from The Walking Dead, and actor Jack Falahee from How to Get Away With Murder. A crucial contributor was producer and skating consultant Christopher V. Nelson, who worked on the renowned hockey film Miracle from 2004 and who refused to cast actors unable to skate.

      Ranarivelo expressed that he was particularly fascinated by the script because hockey culture is typically “so macho, and it’s about guys being tough — it seemed like one of the last places where you’d expect vulnerability.”

      Falahee, who portrays a young coach grappling with his own issues, was drawn to the film due to his personal experience of losing a friend to suicide. He turned to acting when a friend, who was supposed to perform in a school play, took his own life; for Falahee, participating in the play became a means of mournful expression.

      Sedona proved to be an exceptional venue for the film's premiere due to its focus on therapy and healing, especially in the context of the vast trails that surround the town. Shattered Ice premiered at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, close to Sedona Red Rock Junior Senior High School, where soccer practice was ongoing during the premiere, and where the film will be presented this week to student athletes.

      Miskin and his team are working on screening the film for high school athletes across the nation and already have plans to show it to college hockey players in Massachusetts, who are acutely aware of the culture of stress, bravado, and emotional suppression depicted in the film. The film's partners include The Hidden Opponent, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting mental health for student athletes.

      Stephen, who attended school with Miskin, also lost the same friends. He remarked that many of them, much like the character Danny in the film, seemed to be individuals who didn’t appear to need help.

      "The students we lost, the friends we lost, many were just like Danny—talented student athletes. Everything looked perfect on the outside. People envied them, and they held a certain social status in school and the community," he said.

      "And I really believe this highlights a key message from the film: you can never truly know what someone is experiencing. The only way to uncover that is to start talking and have those conversations."

      If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

      Main image: Shattered Ice. Nehoiden Films