This year's South by Southwest festival is almost done, and what a year it's been. SXSW 2025 had an expansive catalogue of 96 narrative features, one of the best received being Czech/Irish film, Hallow Road, starring Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys. Premiering on March 7th, the film has been capturing the attention of festival goers in downtown Austin all week long, and for good reason; it is a harrowing, high-energy film about every parent's worst nightmare.
Hallow Road follows parents, Maddie and Frank in a race against time after receiving news that their daughter, Alice has caused a catastrophic car accident, killing a young woman in the process. It was directed by the British-Iranian filmmaker, Babak Anvari, who previously directed the Netflix original, I Came By in 2022. He is also set to direct the next Cloverfield sequel which has not yet received a title.
Hallow Road is a truly original film, taking place almost entirely inside of a car. Impressively, the film never feels claustrophobic or dull. Most of the runtime is dedicated to Maddie and Frank speaking on the phone with their daughter who has just been in a car accident in a remote forest, almost an hour's drive away from home, They try their hardest to calm her down but the situation only gets worse as more and more details are revealed about Alice's state of mind and what really happened out in that forest. Pike and Rhys absolutely shine in their respective roles, in addition to Megan McDonnell who plays the haunting voice of Alice over the phone.
Despite having virtually no changes in environment or blocking, Hallow Road is an exceptionally captivating film that maintains a high energy without losing momentum. The two main characters find themselves in a situation nobody would trade places with, and the audience is practically forced to put themselves in their shoes. The tension is palpable and emotions are running high, with the window of time only getting smaller and smaller with each roll of the tires. It's impressive just how clear of a picture the script paints just from Alice's phone call. The audience is able to envision exactly where she is, what's going on despite having no visuals.
The film also has a very strong psychological aspect in its writing, most parents are willing to do whatever it takes for the wellbeing of their children, but where do we possibly draw the line? Maddie and Frank have to grapple with whether they will let their daughter deal with the consequences of her own actions or if they will try to intervene to protect her. It's an easy situation to pass judgement at, but there's no telling how we would react if placed in their shoes.
Hallow Road gets most of its strength from its strong anchor in reality. The plot is something that any audience member could experience at some time in their life and that's what makes it so gripping to watch. In my opinion, the film heavily suffers when it tries to go paranormal. It's a much better film when it focuses on something real. As soon as the supernatural element is introduced, Hallow Road becomes a completely different movie, a much weaker one. The film goes from crystal clear to confusing, especially since the audience is getting all of their information from a phone call.
Hallow Road has some flaws, but it's a truly awe-inspiring film because of how much it does with so little. It currently does not have a release date but it's definitely not a film you want to miss!
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