It’s been more than eight months since I saw “Hallow Road” in theaters, and this psychological thriller refuses to leave my psyche, even now in 2026. And I mean that as a huge compliment.
This masterful chiller ranked in my top 10 favorite movies of 2025 (and I saw more than 110 movies in theaters last year), but frustratingly, almost nobody seems to have heard of it. Heck, even my colleagues, who certainly have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to the latest and greatest new movies, missed it in theaters. Its extremely limited theatrical release was definitely a blink-and-it's-gone situation.
If you also hadn’t heard of “Hallow Road” until now, and missed out on this deeply unsettling but truly gripping thriller back in 2025, let me explain why it deserves to be at the top of your watchlist this week. Just be warned, this isn’t a movie for viewers who are easily spooked.
What is ‘Hallow Road’ about?
Proving you can do a heck of a lot with a modest setup, “Hallow Road” opens with a husband (Matthew Rhys) and wife (Rosamund Pike) awaking to a late-night call from their daughter in deep distress.
Horrified to learn that she’s responsible for a potentially fatal car accident, they hop in their own car and speed towards the site of the crash, terrified of the unthinkable consequences if they don’t arrive before somebody else stumbles upon the scene.
But as they travel down winding, poorly lit country roads, the already chilling night takes an even darker turn. Not only do some disturbing family revelations come to light, but there may be more sinister forces at play, which could spell tragedy for everybody involved.
‘Hallow Road’ is a haunting and high-quality psychological thriller
“Hallow Road” is a testament to how a well-crafted movie can become more than the sum of its parts. On the surface, a movie set almost entirely within the claustrophobic confines of an everyday motor vehicle might sound restrictive, but director Babak Anvari and screenwriter William Gillies use this simple setup to its maximum potential.
What makes “Hallow Road” so chilling is that viewers don’t see any of the spooky stuff. Our viewpoint is of the husband and wife, Frank and Maddie, who can only help their daughter over the phone as they hurry towards her location. This not only creates a thrilling sense of mystery — just how bad is the scene of the accident? — but also plays on the fact that the scariest images are the ones we can create in our own minds, rather than anything shown on screen.
Narratively, the movie has just the right amount of twists and turns. There’s no grand reveal per se, but there’s more going on in “Hallow Road” than meets the eye (or perhaps the ear, after all, Frank and Maddie are only hearing what’s happening via a phone). The flick also explores how far a parent will, or should, go to protect their child, and touches on weighty themes of taking responsibility for your actions, whatever the cost, which adds extra substance to the proceedings.
Another masterstroke is keeping the movie’s runtime a very trim 80 minutes. The car setting does have its limitations, and stretched too far it would have seen the flick collapse in on itself, but “Hallow Road” is just long enough to build suspense to bone-chilling levels, but smartly never wears out its welcome. And speaking of suspense, “Hallow Road” has some of the most effective tension-building of any movie I’ve ever seen. By the time the shocking conclusion arrived, I was practically digging my fingers into my cinema seat. It’s 80 minutes of pure dread. Things start bleak, and let me tell you, they don’t get any sunnier by the end.
Trending carefully to avoid spoilers, I should acknowledge that the ending is quite divisive. Over on review site Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has been rated just 52% by viewers (However, critics are much kinder at an impressive 89%). Criticism of the ending is a common theme among its more negative audience reactions. I’m aware that ambiguous endings don’t work for everybody, and I’m not always a fan of them myself, but in this case, I think the final moments of “Hallow Road” absolutely stick the landing and wrap up the flick near perfectly.
“Hallow Road” had my complete attention in a matter of moments, and at several points, holding my breath as its two leads are forced into a nightmare situation with seemingly no way out of their personal hell. It’s a remarkable psychological thriller that achieves so much with relatively little (the on-screen cast is literally just two actors!). Rather than being held back by its minimal components, it’s elevated by them.
In all this praise, I’ve not even touched upon the strength of the performances from Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys, who are both fantastic, and do all the heavy lifting required to keep “Hallow Road” engaging until the bitter end. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give this movie is that as a huge fan of dark thriller flicks (and straight up horror movies, too), I find myself rarely spooked even by films deemed to be “truly terrifying” and yet after watching “Hallow Road” I felt genuinely unsettled, and that feeling lingers long after watching.
Now that “Hallow Road” is finally available on streaming platforms (in both the U.S. and the U.K.), I’m eager to dive into a rewatch. Just give me a moment to work up the courage…
Watch "Hallow Road" on Amazon (buy/rent) now
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