Hallow Road Turns Parental Panic Into a Real-Time Thriller from Babak Anvari

Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys hit the road in a desperate race against time in SXSW thriller Hallow Road.

One of the buzzier titles to come out of this year’s SXSW was Hallow Road, a tightly wound thriller starring Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys. Directed by BAFTA-winner Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow), the film imagines every parent’s worst nightmare: a late-night phone call from your teenage daughter, panicked and breathless—she’s hit someone with her car, and now it might be her life—or yours—on the line.

While early reviews out of Austin were slightly mixed, Hallow Road picked up enough momentum to become one of the few festival titles people kept talking about. The agonizing car ride that unfolds is tense, claustrophobic, and seemingly unforgettable.

UK audiences will get to experience it first when it opens in theaters May 16, with a U.S. release set for later this year.

The official synopsis teases a night full of dread: two parents receive a disturbing call from their daughter and race to the scene before anyone else gets there. But as the night deepens, secrets unravel—and it becomes clear they might not be the only ones driving down Hallow Road.

Two parents receive a distressing late-night call from their teenage daughter, who has just accidentally hit a pedestrian. They jump in their car, racing to get there before anyone else stumbles across the scene. As they head deeper into the night, disturbing revelations threaten to tear the family apart as they soon realize they might not be the only ones driving down Hallow Road.

CAST AND CREW

Cast: Rosamund Pike (GONE GIRL), Matthew Rhys (THE AMERICANS), Megan McDonnell (NORMAL PEOPLE)

Directed By: BAFTA-Winner Babak Anvari (UNDER THE SHADOW)