- Directed by Lawrence Jacomelli
- Written by Lawrence Jacomelli, George Kelly, Victoria Hinks Taylor
- Stars Britni Camacho, John Schwab, Sydney Brumfield
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLiCS4IbC74
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Between the hints in the trailer, poster, and opening scene, we had a general idea where things were going to go. But we didn’t know how it was going to go, and the ride along the way was a wild one. This was really well made with a well-written suspenseful script and interesting characters. We liked it a lot.
Spoilery Synopsis
A woman staggers down the desert road, bleeding and crying as the car slowly approaches her from behind. A man we don’t see gets out of the car, and the girl is clearly terrified of him. He drops a gun and one bullet, then goes back to the car. She ineffectively shoots at him as he runs her over. Credits roll.
Bobbie drives down the empty desert highway and gets a phone call from her sister, warning her not to go home to her abusive guy. She stops in at a “last chance” gas station for a refill. The sheriff overhears her arguing on the phone and strikes up a conversation about the call. He points out that her tires are worn out; he’s a little creepy, but she deals with it.
Back on the road, Bobbie takes another call from her sister, and she gets a little upset and floors it. There’s a speed trap, and she zooms right past it. The cop who pulls her over is the same guy as before. This time, she flirts with him; he accuses her of throwing something out of her window that smashed his light bar. He gives her a ticket for $1000, which she cannot afford. He wants $300 to make it go away, which she can afford, sorta, but she needs to go back to the gas station ATM. He wants to hold on to her phone to make sure she follows through.
The gas station doesn’t have a working ATM after all. Her credit card is overdrawn; her boyfriend has cleaned out her account. Blake, the gas station guy, hints that Sheriff Bilstein does this kind of thing all the time. She decides to drive on without her phone.
Meanwhile, the sheriff has Bobbie’s phone, which just keeps ringing. He turns it off and throws it in a box with a bunch of others. He gets out a sniper rifle and shoots out Bobbie’s brake light. He then chases her down and arrests her. He lets her go and mentions an ATM at the diner down the street. This time, he also keeps her license. As she drives away, he shoots out her tire, and she crashes.
When the sheriff drives the opposite direction, Bobbie makes a run for it down the road. She soon learns why they call it “the desert”: It’s hot, sunny, and no one else is there. She eventually makes it ten miles to the diner. She calls her boyfriend, Rhett, who accuses her of flirting with the cop in the first place, because the sheriff answered her phone. She hangs up on him.
As Bobbie waits for a coffee at the diner, the sheriff pulls up out front. He’s had her car towed, and he’s standing right next to it. She calls 911 and reports that the gas station up the road is being robbed. The sheriff gets notified on the police radio, since he is 911, and has no choice but to follow up on the call.
She goes out to the car, but it’s got a new tire and brake light. The sheriff returns, oddly nice this time, and gives her her keys and phone back. He’s clearly playing some kind of game with her, but she gets back in the car and drives off.
While in the diner, Bobbie stole some guy’s change, and Amy the waitress gets fired for it. Bobbie offers Amy a ride home. Amy talks about her childhood as a heroin addict; and they bond over their abusive lives. Bobbie realizes her sister was protecting her from her abusive father for years growing up, and she hadn’t realized until hearing Amy’s story. Bobbie tells her what the sheriff did, and none of it surprises Amy. Suddenly, Amy’s head explodes; she’s been shot.
Sheriff Bilstein rear-ends her car. She stops and enlists a truck driver for help, but the sheriff shoots the guy. Bobbie drives off again, but as night falls, her car overheats. She hides her car at the junkyard and waits. Ed, the simple-minded guy who works there, finds her and seems to befriend her. He’s going to call his boss. Who turns out to be the sheriff. This is where the sheriff hides the cars of his victims, and there’s a whole wall of license plates and driver’s licenses. Ed knocks her out.
Bobbie wakes up tied to a chair. Ed and the sheriff tell their story; they’re just one step removed from the Texas Chainsaw family. They are brothers, their mom was awful, and the sheriff has some serious issues with women. They cut out her tongue, and she passes out again.
When she wakes up, Bobbie’s untied and finds a knife in the sink. She runs outside, but it’s clear that Ed and the sheriff were expecting it; that’s part of their game.
Just like in the opening sequence, Bobbie staggers down the desert road, bleeding and crying as the car slowly approaches her from behind. The sheriff gets out of the car, and Bobbie is clearly terrified of him. He drops a gun and one bullet, then goes back to the car…
She shoots herself in the head, which ruins his game. In the distance and the shadowy light, she managed to fake it, and when he approaches, she stabs him and steals his car. He catches her and starts to strangle her, but she whacks him and drives off. When he gets up, she turns the car around. He pulls out his pistol and the tables are turned as he shoots as she runs right into him.
She goes back to the junkyard to get her own car and goes inside, armed to deal with Ed. She retrieves her tongue and packs it in ice. She kills Ed without any challenge and then takes a pile of licenses as evidence. Her phone rings as she drives away, and it’s Rhett. She throws the phone out the window…
Brian’s Commentary
The moral seems to be “Don’t drive through the desert if you’re broke.” Or ever, if you can help it.
Everyone acts fairly logically for this situation. The sheriff is creepy, but he’s also interesting– why is he doing all this?
It’s a stalker/slasher, but this time, we get a lot of the sheriff, and he’s not stupid in any way; he’s got this regular thing that he does, and he’s mostly got the kinks worked out. Bobbie has lots of family issues, but she works them out on the road.
It’s good!
Kevin’s Commentary
I liked how the characters had some depth, it really helped in rooting for Bobbie and made the sheriff and Ed more interesting. Skillful writing and good acting combined in this one to elevate it above average in quality. The special effects were very realistic. I give it a big thumbs up.