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Southbound
2015 89 min United States of America 18+
★6.2
Fantasy, Thriller, Horror, Science Fiction
Director: Roxanne Benjamin, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner
Trailers
Description
The film contains five stories set on desolate stretches of a desert highway. Two men on the run from their past, a band on its way to a gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales.
US Gross:
$23,665
Worldwide:
$35,000
Starring
Chad Villella
Actor
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
Actor
Kristina Pesic
Actor
Awards
1 nomination total
Key opinion
Southbound is a divisive anthology film that blends road-trip horror with a recurring, circular narrative. While many appreciate its oppressive atmosphere and creative connective tissue, others find the lack of explicit exposition and the uneven quality of the individual segments frustrating.
| Originality | The film utilizes an effective, circular narrative structure that successfully links disparate vignettes into a cohesive, purgatorial world. | |
| Production | The atmosphere creates a consistently unsettling, low-budget art-house aesthetic that effectively masks the film's financial limitations. | |
| Acting | The acting is widely considered competent and grounded, providing a necessary layer of realism that elevates the supernatural premise. | |
| Screenplay | The lack of clear exposition regarding the setting and supernatural lore is viewed by some as an immersive, haunting choice, while others perceive it as a frustrating narrative void. | |
| Pacing | The pacing is praised by viewers who enjoy the steady, hypnotic momentum of the anthology, whereas those seeking traditional, high-impact horror scares find the experience tedious or uneventful. | |
| Theme | The quality of the individual stories is highly inconsistent, with viewers disagreeing on whether the anthology format succeeds in maintaining interest across all five segments. |