Back Roads

Name: Back Roads
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: December 7, 2018
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 42
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Chiara Aurelia, Danika Yarosh, Hala Finley, Jennifer Morrison

2018

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Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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6.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: December 7, 2018 | Not Rated

Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Chiara Aurelia, Danika Yarosh, Hala Finley, Jennifer Morrison, Juliette Lewis, Nicola Peltz, Robert Longstreet, Robert Patrick, Sky Elobar, Tom Everett Scott

Summary: After his mother (Juliette Lewis) is imprisoned for killing his abusive father, Harley Altmyer (Alex Pettyfer) is left to care for his three younger sisters in rural Pennsylvania. Harley forgoes his college education, working dead-end jobs to pay the bills and raise his siblings, including his rebellious and promiscuous 16-year-old sister,After his mother (Juliette Lewis) is imprisoned for killing his abusive father, Harley Altmyer (Alex Pettyfer) is left to care for his three younger sisters in rural Pennsylvania. Harley forgoes his college education, working dead-end jobs to pay the bills and raise his siblings, including his rebellious and promiscuous 16-year-old sister, Amber (Nicola Peltz). Scarred by his past, Harley becomes infatuated with Callie Mercer (Jennifer Morrison) the older married woman who lives nearby. Things take a dangerous turn when they embark on an affair and shocking family secrets soon begin to emerge. As Harley’s life spirals out of control, unspoken truths leading to a devastating conclusion come to the surface and threaten to consume him. [Samuel Goldwyn Films]… Expand

Director: Alex Pettyfer

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 101 min

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Critic Reviews

Dan Callahan

Dec 5, 2018

Given the outlandishness of the material here, it would have been easy to start getting unwanted laughs in the second half of the film, but Pettyfer and his actors find the truth in it, even in a very long and demanding take where Harley confronts his mother in prison. Read full review

Matthew Monagle

Dec 5, 2018

If you and the film find yourself on the same wavelength, there is a fair amount here to like. Like many actors moving behind the camera, Pettyfer may err a bit too much on the side of loud performances, but cinematographer Jarin Blaschke (The Witch) adds some much-needed desperation to these characterizations through his unsentimental depiction of rural Pennsylvania. Read full review

Frank Scheck

Dec 5, 2018

While Back Roads doesn't live up to its considerable dramatic and thematic ambitions, it provides a strong opportunity for its filmmaker/star to stretch his dramatic muscles in the lead role. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Dec 7, 2018

It now takes more than it once did to shock us, and Back Roads wants to do just that, but the effect, in this case, is more audacious than it is convincing. Read full review

Robert Abele

Dec 5, 2018

Though there’s an abiding sensitivity in the often-noirish approach to the story’s many traumas and its characters’ flailing attempts at coping, as a whole it’s something of a tonal mess. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Nov 27, 2018

Whatever it wants to say about abuse, its mental, social and sexual impact on its victims, however “daring” it aims to be, Back Roads loses in its pursuit of the sordid. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Monica Castillo

Dec 7, 2018

Not all tearful screaming sessions translate well from the page to the screen, and this is an excruciating example of overkill. Read full review

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