Hallow Road (2025) Movie Review - More Allegory Heavy Horror

Welcome to Knockout Horror. If you are new here, we review horror movies, explain horror movie endings, and put out horror movie ranking lists. 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 attempted to explain the ending 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.

Yet Another!

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!

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.

Horror Sites Sure Love Hyperbole

I always use trailers to get screenshots of movies for my reviews. It’s just easier; I mean, if they put the stuff in the trailer they don’t mind it appearing in a review, right? Anyways, one of the things that always strikes me as quite funny while watching these trailers is the review quotes featured in them.

Man do these websites ever talk some utter shit! “Gripping” and “Unsettling” a few of them say. Okay, bit of an overreaction, but whatever. “Completely unpredictable“.. Not really, but fine. “It will haunt you for days to come!“.. Oh fuck off Dread Central. Jesus.

I struggle to agree with any of that rhetoric. It’s like being a horror reviewer means talking out of your ass and overreacting to every little thing. Nothing is going to haunt you about Hallow Road because, frankly, it’s not that type of movie.

It’s a simple story that takes place almost entirely inside of a car and via the medium of phone calls between the parents and their daughter. If the dread of being a shite parent is something that really gets to you then maybe it will haunt you a little. Most people are probably going to be far too busy being bored out of their minds to even consider that.

Simply a Bit Dull

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 stay interesting. Don’t get me wrong, Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys are brilliant in the lead roles. The story just isn’t all that original or all that compelling.

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.

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.

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.

Worth Mentioning

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.

There’s an almost “radio drama” vibe to this film that I think some will enjoy. Fans of Pontypool might get a kick out of the almost entirely conversation driven horror that is very reminiscent of that title. 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.

The film has a few moments that are quite compelling. I did find myself curious about what was going on. 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.

Should You Watch Hallow Road

I think some fans might enjoy the character driven, highly allegorical, nature of Hallow Road. It feels different thanks to its one location setting and conversational approach to story telling. That’s barely a justifiable reason to warrant recommending what is, at its core, another formulaic metaphorical monster horror movie, though.

Pike and Rhys are fantastic and fans of theirs should check it out. People who enjoy horror stories that could be told on stage or on the radio might find something to like, as well. Many viewers are, however, simply going to be pretty bored and underwhelmed by the film’s lack of commitment to one single theme. It is, for me, just an unremarkable movie.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

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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