Plot summary

The film begins somewhere in the icy tundra of North America. The lovers, Roman and Lucy, are researchers who live and work up there. They cut holes in the ice to go ice-fishing. Lucy has more luck catching fish, and playfully makes fun of Roman for his lack of fish. The topic switches to their tastes in music. Roman tells Lucy about this one song by the artist Gil Scott-Haron. He tells her that he loves this one song where the lyrics say "the spirits are your parents." He contemplates that maybe the spirits are always trying to tell people things, and that "if you took a second to listen to yourself, you would hear them."Later that night, Roman lays in bed next to Lucy, who seems to be having a troubled sleep. When he wakes her, she tells him that she had a nightmare where she was being stalked by a mysterious figure, and that no one was around to hear her cries for help.Lucy leaves her on her snowmobile and stops off at another house, where she sets up a birthday party for one of her co-workers. She allows herself to get lost in the party with her friends and peers.In the morning, Roman stops off at a small municipal airport. He boards a delivery plane that is set to transport a dead body. He identifies the body as a man named Tom. When asked what happened, he simply replies, "He got lost." He and his co-worker pass the body off to two Inuit villagers before flying back to base.Lucy receives a letter from a university program, where she has been accepted to study in their biology department. She meets up with Roman, and the two of them head to a snowmobile race. While watching the race, Lucy is suddenly overcome with anxiety and excuses herself. What appears to be a man begins to follow her to her snowmobile; she quickly boards and drives away. Roman follows her. She explains that she got accepted to the biology program. She tells Roman that she has to go down south, as the man keeps chasing her and she can't get away. She asks Roman to come with her, but he is adamant that he stays at base, as he cannot fathom the idea of going down south.The two make love later that evening, but Roman senses that Lucy is not reciprocating and decides to stop. She tries to convince him otherwise, but he doesn't want to continue. They go to sleep, feeling more distant from each other.Roman begins to self-medicate to cope with his emotions; he smokes weed constantly and drinks to excess. Lucy drives to his house and tries to get him to let her in, but he ignores her. On her drive back, she stops to take a picture, but is yet again approached by the man. She jumps in her car and speeds away.Roman takes his rifle out that night and shoots up his old furniture. He is visited by Sheriff John, who's responding to a noise complaint, but he sympathetically lets Roman finish his rounds before he leaves. Roman is suddenly approached by a polar bear. The polar bear speaks to Roman, and tells Roman that he's stuck in his karma and needs to break out of his circle. Roman matter-of-factly states that maybe he'll just shoot the bear, who retorts that he's the only friend Roman has. The bear lumbers off. Nearby, a boy playing hockey with his brother asks Roman if he can talk to bears. Roman simply tells the boy that it's late and time to get back inside. He takes the boy and his brother in.Lucy visits Roman again and is adamant that he talks to her. When he ignores her again, she breaks his window open and demands that he tell her he loves her. Roman chases her out the door and screams at her to leave him alone, that he is done with her. Lucy leaves in tears.Sheriff John arrives at Roman's to check on him; he finds him distraught and sitting with his rifle pointed under his chin. John leaves and comes back with a case of beer to snap Roman out of his funk. Roman confides in John that he moved up north after he broke his ankle kicking his abusive father in the face, and that he no longer knows of his father's whereabouts.The next morning, John finds Roman passed out surrounded by beer cans. He has Roman airlifted to a nearby health clinic to detox.Lucy arrives at the clinic. She pays all of the money she was saving to go down south to visit Roman. The two are given 15 minutes in a small meeting room, where they passionately make love against the table. Roman promises to do anything for Lucy to make it up to her. She tearfully asks if he could go with her down south; the man is still chasing her and it's becoming unbearable. Roman agrees. Because she no longer has any money, he tells her they're going to pack up their snowmobiles and ride as far south as they can, until she is free from her nightmares.The two embark on a journey across the frozen tundra with as many supplies as they can carry. On their journey, they come across a trail of frozen caribou, half buried in the ice. Lucy explains that this happens every year when the water levels get too high; the leader tries to cross the river and drowns, prompting the second in line to lead until they drown, and so on until there are none left.While camping out, Lucy tells Roman a joke: Two lovers and a bear walk into a bar, and the lovers are carrying an octopus. They claim that the octopus is the most accomplished musician in the world. The bear consistently tests the skills of the octopus with various musical instruments, all of which the octopus can play expertly. The bear finally gives the octopus a bagpipe; he fumbles with it for a few moments before giving up. When taunted by the bear for his inability to play, he comments that he wasn't going to play it, but instead was going to have sex with it once he got the pajamas off. Roman teases that it's the worst joke he's ever heard.The lovers' journey is a positive one. They spend their time traveling, skiing, and taking pictures of the Northern lights. For once, they are liberated from their pasts.The two are soon approached by the bear, who complains that he's hungry. Lucy panics and goes for her gun, but Roman tells her that he won't hurt her. The bear tells Roman that running away won't solve their issues, and Lucy's attacker is still following them; they need to "burn" him out. Roman feeds the bear a fish and tells him to go away. The bear lumbers off, muttering "I love you too." Roman tells a baffled Lucy that he can speak to bears, and the journey south resumes.Not long after, they are approached by a native villager, who warns them to turn around to avoid an incoming blizzard. Lucy stubbornly states that she's not going back north. The villager takes pity on them and gives them directions to a nearby military base that has since been abandoned. As they travel there, Roman's snowmobile hits a patch of thin ice, and he falls through, trapping. Lucy manages to pull him up with her mobile and rope, and they continue on their way, minus one snowmobile.They find the military base, but Lucy is apprehensive to enter. Roman assures her that there is no one inside, and that she is safe with him. They explore the base, finding old artifacts such as 30 year-old corned beef. Lucy is still afraid that someone else is in the base with them, but Roman insists that they are alone.That night, Lucy hears a noise while she sleeps. Thinking that it's Roman playing a trick, she stands up to investigate. She is once again confronted by the mysterious man. He places his hand on her shoulder and tells her to come to him if she loves him - if she doesn't, people will die and she will be the one to blame. Lucy runs out of the base screaming and crying, but Roman catches her before she can run out into the snow. Inconsolable, she admits that the man following her is her dead father, who would regularly sexually abuse her. She screams that she needs to kill him and get him out of her head. Roman promises Lucy that he'll kill him for her. He gathers up their belongings, then breaks open the base's gas line and lights it on fire, blowing up the inside. Roman embraces Lucy and assures that her father is dead and will never follow her again.In voiceover, Lucy wonders if she and Roman are like the caribou who crossed the river and froze to death, knowing full well that they wouldn't make it. Roman says maybe it's a good thing, because it's proof that they conquered their biggest fears in life, and in doing so, were not afraid to die.The doomed lovers are finally out of resources. They dig a cave in the ice to take shelter. Lucy and Roman affirm their love for each other, and imagine the beautiful life they'll build together once they make it down south.As Lucy sleeps, the bear pokes his head through the cave and greet Roman. He quips that they are so close to their destination but are simultaneously a lifetime away. Roman remarks that the bear is like a god, but with flaws. The bear says that all gods have flaws, "even Jesus." He bids Roman farewell, assuring him that he will see him again soon. Roman falls asleep, with Lucy at his side.Some time later, a rescue team comes across the abandoned snowmobile. They take out chainsaws and begin to carve at the surrounding ice. Buried under the thick layer of ice is Lucy and Roman, frozen in the icy tundra with their arms around each other. The lovers are airlifted away into the arctic sky as the screen cuts to black.