End of the Road is proof that there is still gas in the tank.
End of the Road began as an emotionally loaded road trip that took a hard right turn into terror. A group of people are travelling from Los Angeles to Texas with grief and financial troubles. As the family encounters violent racism in the Southwest, Shelton shifts his focus to thrillers. When they witness a murder and get into a fight with a drug boss, things get really frightening for them.
Shelton's expertise as a TV and music video director comes through in every moment of End of the Road, with almost every scene equipped with an uncomfortably shallow depth of field and either hyper-saturation or neon-lit in a weird, uneasy intensity that matches how removed from safety the family are The brighter the oranges and magentas are, the more dangerous they become. They're messed up because they're being chased, held captive, or having to fight for their lives against terrifyingly racist, violent people who have no regard for law or morality. Reggie says that it is a different world out here.
Shelton's use of lighting is highly unsettling. Credit: Ursula Coyote / Netflix
The genre of road thrillers can be used to explore broader themes such as family, social oppression, and a sense of belonging. The film's narrative may not be new, but innocent road trippers see something they shouldn't, take something they shouldn't, and have to outrun a killer in an isolated area. Shelton makes a social thriller of it, moving the film's Black protagonists through an endless hellscape of white supremacy when all they want to do is drive their family to their new home in Houston, Texas, and start fresh.
Classic family road trip markers include a silly pillow fight in a roadside motel, kids being made to have a Real Conversation in the car instead of being on their phones, and a roadside Wild West theme park. Shelton allows her core four actors to explore themes of family, strength, and resilience amidst playful banter and solid burns, making it possible for the film's protagonists to connect as a family.
Come on, they just wanted to get to Houston. Credit: Ursula Coyote / Netflix
Queen Latifah makes her alternating moments of panic and power real, as she tries to maintain a sense of calm control to get through extremely distressing situations. The nest of neo-Nazis thatBrenda drives into do not end up with the upper hand. She should be exhausted by the film's last few minutes.
Bridges balances his sister's tendency towards responsibility with seizing-the-moment Cool Uncle energy, and together they make the siblings feel like they have each other's backs. They bring wit and maturity to their fully realised characters, as kids that have had to grow up sooner than they otherwise may have due to grief, but whose family keeps them in sight of what's important, and teaches them how to navigate life in the face of unyieldingracism. The four do everything they can to keep each other safe.
The space Shelton makes for her talented cast to carve out poignant moments of family strength and togetherness is moving and the pervasive sense of white supremacy proves a timely villain. The director didn't let the audience rest for one minute more than her onscreen characters in several scenes.
Don't say it and don't say it often. One hell of a ride is what it is. It's dammit.
End of the Road is now available to watch on the internet.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
