I knew I should'a taken that left turn at Albuquerque!

I think the biggest part of why the audience may not have loved this movie in the same way critics clearly did was because there's a lot about the movie found in the depth of exploratory cerebral reasoning of themes and imagery throughout the movie. It's not a Friday the 13th reboot with nudity and gore. It's not this year's iteration in the Saw franchise. There's a dichotomy between invitation and demand that the director gently imposes on his audience. You are free to enjoy this movie on the surface and it will have moments where there are measure of fright. They aren't plentiful or overtly meaningful. They add some needed context and motivation. But on the whole, much more of the eerie tonality comes from several layers below what you simply take in visually. I think this is why I enjoyed it as much as I did. I like a movie that provides an assigned amount of necessary thought to truly traverse the narrative landscape. With the open ended nature of some measures of interpretation, there's a snowflake-esque quality to how the movie unfurls before you that allows you to go as deep into conjecture as you like. The film invites exploration of ideas and that's always fun, especially in the vein of a horror flick.

I felt like overall there were a number of elements that harkened back to Cube and The Blair Witch Project. There were other films that felt like they added measures of inspiration but those two really jumped out at me. They may not have been at all but I suspect at least elements of the latter were considered as the stylistic approach to this film was considered. I'm going to try and stay away from spoilers and over analyzing the film simply because it is a brand new movie and I would encourage fans of thinking horror films to go see this one. I appreciate how a much more subtle building of tension is being adopted by this up and coming generation of horror directors. There's a great deal more effort putting into world building and story telling that requires an elevation of intellectualism that isn't exclusive. It's not a movie you have to be smart to enjoy. You just have to find meaningful ways to connect with the plot and the characters which I think truly is an open invitation. In many cases, none of these characters would have really been a gateway for me in a lot of other films. Drop these four kids into a standard horror movie as fodder for a monster or a killer and I'm hitting the snooze button in the first 10 minutes. But the dynamics and the cohesion by which these four come together in such a confined space is really well done.

The basic plot of the movie, which I think is exhibited in the trailer so I'm not spoiling anything, is four early 20's kids are on a late night road trip marking a sort of farewell to a version of their youth before the embark on more traditional elements of adulthood. Somewhere along the way it becomes apparent that the road they are driving on is no longer behaving in the traditional sense and all the standard metaphysical limitations blur into a new, confined reality with measures of infinity juxtaposed with starkly dramatic boundaries. Typical physical needs like sleep, water, food, and the like disappear. Fuel is endless. The odometer becomes irrelevant. The only mandate is keep driving. Stop for more than 90 seconds and the consequences become significant. Turning the car off is a blasphemy. Driving. Existing. Continuing. That's all that matters now. So what are you going to do with eternity in the confines of an SUV?

At the heart of it, I'm not fully able to identify with the world before me like a standard Gen Z, as I'm an Elder Millennial myself, perhaps in being even a bit picky I feel like I fit more categorically into the subclassification of Xennial. This is a more rich blend of the tail end of many of the hallmarks of Gen X sensibility with the incredible timing of being firmly in my most formative teenage years in the technical revolution preceding the year 2000 and beyond. But with those distinctions aside, I think what I really love about this movie is there's still plenty of existentialism for me to explore through my own lens as well as appreciating one from the generation following mine. In a world plagued by invisible lines meant more to divide than encourage collaboration, I found considerable value in viewing these "kids", as I would gladly call them, and their various levels of plight both within the film and in the broader societal narrative that it connected to. Realistically at 43, I could very much be any of these protagonists actual dad, which believe me, makes me feel more than old enough. But still, it was nice to try and see the world through their eyes. There's a blend of idealism and cynicism that weave in and out. It's peppered with some more depressing takes on realism but perspective is king in this movie. The fullness or emptiness of the glass is relative and so the experience within the film has many vantage points to see things from in the end. This is one of my favorite parts in it. I'm not examining these young adults in a purely scientific fashion. They aren't on a slide under a microscope. Allowing their optimism and pessimism, especially in the middle of a very tangible and realistic dose of fear, to shape an secondary angle for narrative consumption was really interesting. I can't and wouldn't see the world the same as these four. But I'm happy to try and I think that's another aspect of the beckoning wave by the director to become involved in the story through excavation of character depths.

Ultimately, a sort of terrifying Groundhog Day complex brings the fright front and center. When you finally understand the limitless chasm in front of you there's a curious helping of duplicity that emerges. There's an infinity of possibility in some senses. One character asks at one point "Do you think eventually we'll have every conversation imaginable and run out of new stimuli to talk about?" which is terribly unique as a premise to investigate. There is a piece about it that I took away that examined the depth of their relationships as is and their current ability to become more enmeshed through both healthy and unhealthy means. With all needs truly suspended, what can four "friends" do with endless time? The context of the vehicle presented adds a substantial tension to it which exacerbates the question to a degree. But eventually the acclimate to the setting with a sort of structure to it. What becomes cumbersome is the growing understanding that there is no end to it and that idea, to a brain made to be finite, is a level of terrifying unto itself. But I found myself wondering if they were able to work more in tandem, even with the imposition of the limitations they are very aware of, is there a silver lining anywhere to be found. I think the fact that this isn't directly explored isn't a missed opportunity, I think it's one of the many chances the audience has to sift through questions that endless time offers.

In the end I really enjoyed this film. I found the pushing of humanity to it's own extremes through this experiment that has elements of banality, thoughtfulness, rising tensions and suspension of reality in such a simple setting with such profound impacts and implications to be very refreshing and entirely entertaining. I think similar kinds of both supernatural entanglements and grounded consequence that films like Cube and The Blair Witch Project examine tonally really elevated what this film was able to do. I think I have to go B+ at the conclusion. I was enthralled with the sprawling welcome to examine so many elements of the narrative in real time as well as lingering long after the credits rolled. And while it did still feel very satisfying in the end, even among the openness left in front of you, I just really never got to that point where the movie overwhelmed me to that A space. But a solid B+ to me is a fantastic initial offering from this promising young director. It gives me considerable hope for the future of really elevated horror movies that are yet to be made by this young man.

And that's day 14. Another one in the can as they say. I feel like the 31 days has really been going well this year. Yeah, we had Crackcoon and found the worst movie I've ever seen in my entire life. But we've had some really solid flicks so far. Even the ones that weren't great, were all still mostly really watchable. Several movies in the C range which is nice considering how much legitimate trash is out there in the world of horror. There are plenty i wish I'd saved. Backrooms would be a fun first watch now but it's already on my shelf as it stands. But there's still plenty of room ahead of us and I'm excited to see what else Halloween 2026 has in store for us. So we'll leave it there and we'll be back again tomorrow with something new, and hopefully exciting. Until then, though, I'll catch you on the flip side.