SXSW 2025 Review: HALLOW ROAD, A Folk Horror Two-Hander On A Deep, Dark Forest Lane

A tragic accident, a terrified teenage girl, a pair of panicked parents, and a long lonely road in the woods feature in Iranian-British director Babak Anvari’s latest chiller, Hallow Road, premiering as part of this year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival.

When Alice (voiced by Mega McDonnell) disappears into the night after a fight with her parents, played by Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys, they are perturbed but relatively calm. However, when Alice calls and tells them that she’s been in an accident where a young girl is severely wounded, her parents spring into action, driving off in Mum’s rickety Land Rover to help. Alice is deep in the Ashfolk national forest, a place they used to vacation when she was a child, but not a place you want to get caught late at night.

There are stories about these woods; myths and legends that keep people away once the sun goes down. As Dad drives toward Alice, the phone conversation grows tense as he and Mum disagree about the best course of action, all while their daughter panics on the other end, unsure of will become of the girl she’s hurt and what the potential consequences will be. As her parents get closer, Alice’s situation gets increasingly complicated and strange events and visitors appear up the road. Are they there to help, or are they there for something else?

Hallow Road is a chilling affair, contained almost entirely to a single location for its brisk eighty-minute runtime. We are trapped with Alice’s parents in their car as they drive, only as aware of Alice’s predicament as they are; a harrowing experience for a parent. Alice has made some questionable decisions before this night, and it seems like they are catching up with her. It’s up to Mum and Dad to figure out how to handle the situation. Do they try protect her from potential harm, or help her deal with her new reality? A schism forms in the car as they attempt to play out Alice’s entire future over the course of a short drive, but it may all be for naught.

The conceit of Hallow Road as a single location horror film is a challenging one. On the one hand, horror films have long depended on the visual element as a way of developing tension, delivering scares, and enabling release for their audiences. Is it enough to hear about the terror at the other end of the phone? As the audience, aren’t we already placed in the role of spectator, unable to influence the action on screen? Does it work when that relationship is doubled through the characters on screen, or is it one too many levels removed from the danger?

Anvari is no stranger to this style of film, the unseen terror of his debut feature Under the Shadow was incredibly effective. In that case, even though we never really see the evil, we are with the characters experiencing it first-hand. However, with Hallow Road we are expected to imagine the terror Alice faces through her voice alone. It’s frequently quite effective, but not always. Alice is a vehicle – no pun intended – for the parents to self-examine their own failures. They must confront hard truths, make hard choices, and pray that it’s not too late.

When Hallow Road introduces a folk horror element to the story, it loses a bit of its efficacy for me, not because the horror is poorly utilized, but rather because it is all expected to be imagined. Terrifying imagery is described in fragments, forcing the viewer to try to piece together exactly what is going on. Again, the idea is that the parents are our substitute, but I think it’s a bit of a bridge too far here. We know they are terrified; we want to be terrified, but we don’t know what to be terrified of. Of course, this is the position of the parents, it just seems like the audience should be privy to a little bit more.

Pike and Rhys are tasked with a huge job in Hallow Road. They are both on screen the entire film and it lives and dies by their work. Thankfully, the pair is excellent, and their chemistry is palpable. They tension between them is incredible as they fight for their daughter’s soul on the other end of a call. It’s an incredible challenge, and they put up terrific performances.

Hallow Road might be one of the more divisive films of SXSW’s Midnighters selection this year. Though it’s a master class in acting from its leads, some audiences might demand more payoff from a film in this section. As for me, I am all about experimentation, and this film is certainly pushing the boundaries of what midnight horror movies can be, and for that it scores a lot of points in my book. A challenging film that rewards fans who favor tension over gore, Hallow Road features a pair of stunning lead performances in one of the most unusual horror films in recent years.