Hallow Road (2025) review – A road trip into trauma and boredom

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are checking out another allegorical horror movie in the form of Hallow Road (2025).

Before we start, this movie is an absolute narrative mess so I have explained the ending to this film in this Hallow Road (2025) Ending Explained article. Go check it out if you are looking for answers but keep in mind that, unlike this review, that article has spoilers.

We are back with more trauma dump horror stories

Three of the last few movies I have reviewed have all fallen into that oh so annoying and overdone camp of allegorical horror. It is getting beyond frustrating. In Vitro, an allegory for living with an abuser; The Surrender, coping with grief; Descendent, overcoming past trauma. It wouldn’t be so bad if there was a couple of these films a year but there is one practically every week.

Well, guess what? Buckle up because we have another one for you today with Babak Anvari’s Hallow Road. Whereas In Vitro offered gorgeous Australian vistas and Descendent took us into the clouds, Hallow Road confines us inside the front seats of a car.. Not even a nice car; it’s just an old, unreliable, Jeep. Yay!

“It wouldn’t be so bad if there was a couple of these films a year but there is one practically every week.”

The story follows a couple who, after their daughter storms out during an argument, receive a call from her informing them that she has been involved in an accident. She has hit a girl and needs their help, kicking off a frantic journey to reach her before something far more sinister can.

It’s a simple affair that takes place almost entirely inside of a car and via the medium of phone calls between the parents and their daughter. Be prepared for long stretches of empty road and lots of conversation.

It’s really just a fairly dull movie

Whereas the fantastic Dead End managed to take place almost entirely inside of a car and stay interesting thanks to its Twin Peaks’ style uncanniness and fantastic characters. Hallow Road spends most of its time desperately fighting to hold the viewer’s attention. This is a very vague story with barely anything to grab onto.

Don’t get me wrong, Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys are brilliant in the lead roles. There just isn’t a tremendous amount for them to do. Hallow Road is almost reminiscent of a stage or radio play that is entirely based around two people conversating. Similar in a sense to the brilliant Pontypool but without that movie’s compelling narrative hook.

“Hallow Road is almost reminiscent of a stage or radio play that is entirely based around two people conversating.”

It is your usual tale of parental guilt manifesting as spooky goings on. Only it takes place via the phone rather than with visual metaphors. The entire events revolve around the parents desperately trying to help their daughter while suffering from spotty connections and strange goings on.

In this respect, it is almost more of a character study than an actual horror story. We learn about deep held secrets, we find out that everything presented on the surface isn’t always what is buried underneath, we see the character’s flaws, and we learn about the events that lead up to the current situation.

This one would have worked better as a short

It’s hard to shake the feeling that there is a whole lot of padding, here. Revelations are drip fed into the story in a way that feels a bit artificial and forced. Why wait thirty minutes to reveal something that is important to the immediate severity of the situation at hand? Yes, the couple’s current relationship is splintered but withholding obviously important information seems ridiculous.

While some of the parent’s reactions to the crisis are understandable, others are completely farcical which robs from the believability and the gravity of the story. I could never shake the feeling that Hallow Road was never completely willing to commit to any one idea. In fact, it almost warns you early on that there won’t be a satisfactory conclusion and you should prep accordingly.

“I can’t shake the feeling that this would have worked far better as a tightly paced short. There would be less padding, the narrative would be more straight forward.”

Sure, that is the nature of parenthood and the reality of how even when doing your best it might not be enough, but it is no less satisfying as a piece of narrative work. I can’t shake the feeling that this would have worked far better as a tightly paced short. There would be less padding, the narrative would be more straight forward, and it would be easier to retain viewer interest.

Exceptional performances and some relatable themes

Hallow Road isn’t a complete disaster, despite my complaints. As I said earlier, performances are exceptional and both actors do a great job of drawing you in. The movie occasionally threatens to turn into a full blown horror and actually becomes, momentarily, quite interesting. Unfortunately, it never completely commits and sinks back into being a fairly formulaic drama pretty quickly.

The story is quite relatable until it takes a step towards farce. I am sure plenty of parents would go to whatever lengths they could to protect their child. That overwhelming sense of guilt that is sure to come when your child strays off the beaten path is well represented here. This is a movie that many are going to understand on a very personal level. Even if it doesn’t manage to scare the horror majority.

The film has a few moments that are quite compelling, too. There are times where your curiosity is piqued and there’s the vaguest hint of something truly supernatural taking place. But it quickly became clear that the writer wasn’t going to fully commit to the actually interesting horror elements and, instead, was weaving a lazy, overly familiar, allegorical story about the struggles of parenthood.

Hallow Road just isn’t as smart, or as original, as it seems to think it is. If you have seen one of these movies you have seen one hundred. They are all so similar. The only thing separating this is the one location car based setting and that is barely a satisfying reason to suggest jumping in and taking a ride.

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A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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