Hallow Road is a recent film with a small but high-calibre cast, led by Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys. One night they are woken up by a smoke alarm (is there any more irritating sound?) and receive a panicky phone call from their daughter Alice. She has, apparently, stormed out of the house after a row and driven to remote Hallow Road, in Ashfork Forest in her Dad's car. And she has knocked a girl down.
Maddie, Alice's mum, is a paramedic (although we sense quite early on that not all has gone well for her in that role) and Frank is evidently rather controlling. They decide to go out in the night to find Alice and as they drive, they are trying to figure out what to do for the best. Almost inevitably in this situation they make one bad choice after another. Frank in particular makes some decisions that, even in a high-stress scenario, are obviously unwise.
Bit by bit, as the couple drive and keep talking to their daughter - a very claustrophobic situation inside the car - we learn more about their relationship and the issues that led Alice to go out into the night. Alice's panic-stricken voice makes an ironic contrast with the smiley picture of her on the phone, a reminder of the gulf between the images that people often present of themselves and the more challenged reality.
It's difficult to say too much about this film, and in particular the way it ends, without giving away spoilers. Suffice to say that the ending is ambiguous, and the ambiguity didn't entirely work for me, because I felt there were logic problems whichever interpretation you adopt of the film. However, it has been mostly well-received, and I certainly found it watchable.
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