Hallow Road (dir. Babak Anvari)

by Jack Martin | May 18, 2025

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 80 mins

UK Distributor: Universal Pictures

UK Release Date: 16 May 2025

WHO’S IN HALLOW ROAD?

Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys, Megan McDonnell, Paul Tylak, Stephen Jones

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Babak Anvari (director), William Gillies (writer), Richard Bolger, Ian Henry and Lucan Toh (producers), Peter Adams and Lorne Balfe (composers), Kit Fraser (cinematographer), Laura Jennings (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A couple (Pike and Rhys) race to find their daughter after she’s involved in an accident…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON HALLOW ROAD?

Though not explicitly a horror film, at least not in an entirely traditional sense, Hallow Road is a pretty scary ride. Beyond the deceptively simple premise, minimalist execution by director Babak Anvari (himself a seasoned horror filmmaker thanks to movies like Under the Shadow, Wounds and I Came By), and two gripping central performances that command the screen at all times, the film – from first-time writer William Gillies – takes a genuinely stressful concept and slowly but surely transforms it into something truly haunting, perhaps on a grander scale than some of the more straightforward horror movies out there.

The film unfolds almost entirely in real-time, beginning in the bougie home of married couple Maddie (Rosamund Pike) and Frank (Matthew Rhys) at 2 in the morning, their dining area littered with uneaten casserole and broken glass, immediately suggesting that dinner hasn’t gone well. Suddenly, they receive a phone call no parent wants to hear: their teenage daughter Alice (Megan McDonnell), whilst driving home following their heated argument – the contents of which are gradually revealed – has unfortunately struck and seemingly killed a young woman wandering along a dark country road. Maddie and Frank promptly hop in their car and drive to the scene, with much of the rest of the film taking place on their increasingly harrowing journey as they desperately try to keep their panicked daughter on the line as they debate what they should do in order to spare Alice from the trauma and potentially even the jail time that lies ahead for her.

This being a Babak Anvari-directed film, however, it isn’t long into this 80-minute movie that newer and more surprising elements come into play, as Gillies’ script introduces certain stuff that suddenly throws the reality of the situation into question, possibly even giving things a bit more of a mythological vibe than previously assumed, or worse yet a threat that might simply be horrifyingly human. Either way, Hallow Road is a fairly unpredictable movie, as the respective director and writer keep their audience at a reasonable distance from any straightforward answers while also leaving them fully uncertain as to how this particular scenario is going to play out, and even when certain things become more apparent there’s more than enough ambiguity to maintain that frightening sense of uncertainty.

But even before any of that plays out, Anvari keeps the tension consistent as this couple finds themselves on a pure emotional rollercoaster whilst in the confines of this singular location. The director incorporates some stylish filmmaking techniques to convey the rising anxiety deep within them, not to mention the claustrophobia of being inside a car for an extended period of time. Such techniques include lighting tricks that beam indicators and sat-nav text onto their faces or the surrounding windows, and also sound design that encompasses the car engine and phone dialling effects that quite brilliantly overpowers the dialogue whenever the stress threatens to become too much (which, as it turns out, is a fair amount). Outside, though, is much scarier, as the director recognises that there is something extremely unsettling about driving along dark country roads (with a mixture of Ireland and Prague doubling for the UK streets here), especially at 3am with faint glimmers of a new day on the horizon, and in a few choice shots he gets that across in unnerving fashion.

Like Steven Knight’s Locke, another pressured thriller set almost entirely within a car, Hallow Road’s strength lies in the fact that this script somehow makes this limited location feel extraordinarily cinematic. The real-time anguish of these parents, played incredibly well by Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys in a pair of performances that do so much within such a small space, is emphasised in a script that sees Gillies play upon typical parent-child relationships to psychologically separate them from their daughter, who’s foolishly called them for help instead of the proper authorities. Things become even more unbearable when someone else arrives on the scene that almost immediately heightens the menace, and to say much more about this person, including who they’re played/voiced by, would be to give away one of the film’s most eloquently harrowing surprises. But again, the script smartly avoids full-on escalation and remembers to keep the action almost exclusively contained to this car and the very on-edge humans inside of it.

Unfolding almost like a frightening audiobook you’re listening to on a particularly long car journey, Hallow Road throws you for a loop as it switches tones and possibly even genres in pursuit of effective thrills, and it largely succeeds in its ambitious mish-mash. Though the overall ending intentionally leaves things open-minded, to a point where it’s easy to see some audience members actively disliking the direction in which it takes, this is a smart and intense compact thriller that is impressive in how cinematic it feels thanks to a well-orchestrated trifecta of writing, direction and performances that keep you engaged and horrified right up to the final credits (which, incidentally, you’ll want to initially stick around for, in order to receive clarification regarding particular elements you may have had suspicions about beforehand).

If it’s thrills and suspense that you’re after, then Hallow Road is an experience that more than comfortably arrives at its destination.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Hallow Road is a well-orchestrated suspense thriller that gets some serious cinematic mileage out its minimalist concept and setting, as director Babak Anvari, writer William Gillies, and lead actors Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys work effortlessly together to deliver a genre-bending and impressively unpredictable thrill-ride.