Director Babak Anvari's "Hallow Road" performed at the SXSW festival on Friday night in Austin, to an unusual audience. The narrow 80-minute film is an acting tour of de Force and Rosamund Pike and Matthew Reese as parents Madi and Frank, who receive a phone call late at night from their troubled College's daughter (Megan McDonell). She is in a car accident. She hit a pedestrian in an isolated road which is at least forty minutes driving away, so Madi and Frank rush into their car (in the middle of the night, no less) to come to get it and try to talk to the situation.

Almost the whole movie takes place in that car. We just hear their daughter's voice over the phone, and the audience is forced to imagine her condition as she explains. This approach had a clear financial benefit - the recording lasted only about 17 days, as Avara mentioned in Q&A then - But the choice is also clear for a better movie. Staying in the car helped the audience to feel closed like the characters, as desperate as they finally reach their daughter. It allowed the film to remain focused on its greatest power: that Medi and Frank are two very complicated, highlighted people, expertly shown by Pique and Reese.

For Reese, who joined Anvari at the SXSW premiere to answer questions from the audience, then, the stripped -down approach to Hallow Road was initially frightening. "I think I was more worried about the fact that it would definitely not be hidden," the actor explained. "You are naked. Only two people talk. "

Director Anvari added: "I think at the very beginning when I was talking to (lynx), I was like," Well, the whole movie would be close. "" Reese then joked in front of the audience, "" I was like, "I'm out!" "

Anarva himself shared some of Reese's concerns. Speaking about the night before their first recording on the big day, he admitted: "I was too."

Reese joked that there were fun benefits for his character driving a car throughout most of the movie: "It was great to sit for the whole movie," he said. "And it was very comfortable. And all the time I knew what to do with my hands, which is good. I wouldn't be accused of being Jo Cocker as I have been in the past."

Most interesting about Reese was the production approach to filming. He and Anvari explained how he and Pique performed most of the scene of the car in a long time. They have done this for a long time several times, with the finished film combining clips from each download. "We knew the whole script," Reese explained. "So, yes, you just treated it like a piece of theater. If something went wrong, you wouldn't stop. There was no cut. You had to find a way back or around either. But yes, it was just death or fame."

The comparison of the theater makes sense. As with the performance, the quality and intensity of the dialogue here is the strongest means of the film. He reminded me a lot of the "wasp", a Thriller premiered at Tribeca last year. It is another movie that managed to stay swimsed even though it was set in a small place and just revolves about two talking. The difference is that the "wasp" was adapted to the play, while Halow Road is a pure original. It is a debut display by writer William Gillis, someone whose job we will surely see adapted to the screen soon.

"Hallow Road" is a busy, claustrophobic thriller and the one with a really fun midfield tone. It is easy one of the best, most incredible films for the premiere of the SXSW 2025 festival. It is unclear when it will be published in cinemas or streaming later this year, but definitely be careful when it happens.