SXSW 2025 Review: “Hallow Road” – A Twisted Road Trip!

What often works for stage productions or television, one setting films can be a difficult feat to master. A lot depends on the script and dialogue to paint a story where the direction is confined to only one space. Masterfully directed and critically acclaimed thrillers like Rear Window (1954), Panic Room (2002), and 12 Angry Men (1957) are some notable and suspenseful entries to the subgenre.

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Hallow Road, directed by Babak Anvari and starring Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys, brings both of its characters into a predicament when their daughter calls them to inform them she has hit a young woman driving through the forest late at night. As they attempt to locate their daughter and deal with the accident over the phone, this straightforward thriller takes a windy bend into unknown territory.

Hallow Road begins its direction by filming its two leads in the front seat of their car while on the phone with their daughter. With such a confined space it would seem the film would be a lot more focused on its script and performances. However, Anvari understands the expectations of a one setting film and decides to jump outside of its box to give his audience a wild ride.

The camera and music used in Hallow Road mirrors the nature of its script and how when the story begins to bend, he utilizes low angle shots, such as sliding to be at the same angle as the phone on the dashboard. As Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys’s characters feel the tension and shock of the noises and story they are hearing from their daughter, the steady and straightforward nature of the story begins to shake and unravel.

Rosamund Pike on the set of her upcoming movie Hallow Road.

📸 megannmcdonnell pic.twitter.com/x9gwrPG27b

— rosamund pike daily (@dailyrosamund) March 25, 2025

Hallow Road exemplifies masterful genre bending with twisty turns that spin the audience around in their seat the more information that comes to light. Screenwriter William Gillies knows how to jolt his audience halfway through the film and makes them rethink everything they experienced and heard prior. It is the type of film that engages its audience and then has them scoot upright in their chair the moment it alters course.

Furthermore, Hallow Road succeeds in creating a clear visualization of what is occurring in the middle of the forest, even if we can not see it. It feels like we are watching two scenes throughout, in the car and in the forest, even though the camera never leaves the car. In the way novels and books can transport you somewhere else, this movie does this just in the picture their daughter is painting them on the phone, the unknown allowing the audience to fill in the frightening blanks in their own heads.

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The details of stories may alter from country to country, but folklore is often universal in its themes and lessons. Hallow Road was made by an Irish production company, allowing elements of the culture to play a part on the story at large. What makes Hallow Road so intriguing is its ability to open up its premise to fit the legends and stories that are spoken about in a variety of cultures. In the way Irish folklore plays a part in the story, the details the audience are given can be attributed to their own stories as part of their culture.

As creatures like ghosts, demons, and mythological creatures change depending on who writes the story and where it is being written, Hallow Road embodies its Irish origin but can be looked at through a number of cultural lenses to identify what is really going on. It is a film that is memorizing from start to finish.

‘Hallow Road’ Rating – 4/5

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