You will not laugh, but you may cry… in despair
*Some spoilers ahead*
Hallow Road is a 2025 psychological suspense thriller where 2 parents Maddie and Frank race to the rescue of their difficult daughter, who calls them after accidentally hitting a girl with her car racing off from her home after a family argument to go do drugs with her friends.
The film is directed by Babak Anvari, a British-Iranian filmmaker known for his creation of suspense thrillers such as Wounds (2019) and Under the Shadow (2016) preceding that.
Hallow road is a case study to how nail-biting sweaty-palmed suspense can be created with an incredibly minimalistic set (one bedroom, a car, the side of the road in a forrest) and merely 4 characters (two of which are never even seen with only their voices heard) who carry the plot, providing thrills and an excellent build-up to the climatic reveal.
Rosamund Pike seems to enjoy these suspenseful roles such as Return to Sender and of course Gone Girl (which gleaned her an Oscar nomination). Similar to Return to Sender, Hallow Road delves into darker psychological territory blending this interestingly with folklore. The result is something particularly haunting and captivating as we watch our distressed characters try to rescue their daughter from her juvenile irresponsible and frankly flagrant negligence.
Pike’s character ‘Maddie’ is a complex one who is torn between trying to keep her family from collapse while also dealing with her own vocational trauma that lays in her past, kept suppressed by her own anti-depressants. Can she keep her own calm and guide her daughter to safety while trying to keep her husband stable too? Pike is excellent in this juggling act.
‘Maddie’s husband in the film, ‘Frank’, played by Matthew Rhys (The Americans, A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood) is also fantastic in his role. He too is complex carrying the weight of his daughter’s actions on his shoulders and you can feel this weight baring heavily upon him more and more until he buckles with frustration, tears, and agonizing despair.
If these two performances were even a little contrived, the film would have fallen flat on its nose. Every ounce of suspense hinged directly upon these 2 performances being absolutely believable, and they both nailed it.
Hallow Road is a must-see for any suspense/thriller loving cinephiles out there. Sorry folks but if you wanted this movie to end with a positive ending, you will be sadly disappointed. You will not laugh, but you may cry… in despair. It will hold your attention, it will give you goosebumps, and your only reprieve will be the final credits themselves.
Written by Jordi Levinrad