A daughter calls her parents in the middle of the night to tell them she’s been in a terrible accident, and the night takes the most unexpected turn.
Minimum budget, maximum impact. Similar to Locke (2013), Hallow Road raises serious questions and then presents unethical dilemmas before it provides any answers or indications towards those answers. And as if that family drama is not enough, the addition of paranormal horror intensifies the suspense till the climax.
But is it paranormal? Is it psychological? When you make it to the end, it is up to you to decide. William Gillies’ script is tight and surfaces the importance of certain dilemmas and choices, placing you in the parents’ shoes, making you wonder what you would have done. Babak Anwari has mastered the unexpected in thriller and horror, and, here, in a Hitchcockian way, he has managed to maintain the suspense till the very end. Under the Shadow (2016), Wounds (2019), and I Came By (2022) are prime examples.
It is not without flaws, but it only lasts an hour and fifteen minutes, and if you see it as a summer camp story, it will captivate you. Furthermore, Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys are brilliant, offering realistic responses to a terrifying scenario.
P.S. Only after seeing it, check the actors behind the voices. That might raise a few more questions…
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