Paradise Highway (2022) Movie Review

In Anna Gutto’s melodramatic thriller “Paradise Highway,” Sally (Juliette Binoche) is a big-rig trucker traversing America’s south. Sally worries deeply about her troubled brother Dennis (Frank Grillo), who is nearing parole. A few unknown factions within the prison thrash him and demand that his sister pick up and transport a package across state lines. Sally agrees, but gets more than she bargains for when she meets the two smugglers—Claire (Christiane Seidel) and Terrence (Walker Babington)—only to discover the package is a young girl, Leila (Hala Finley), condemned to a sex trafficking ring. Sally’s plans go awry when Leila murders a man at the drop-off location, sending the pair on the run to figure out how to remedy the situation before darker underworld forces find them.

However, the film fails to capture the seriousness of the narrative and feels tonally muddled throughout its nearly two-hour runtime. It is difficult to know where to begin with the autopsy of “Paradise Highway.” Shall we discuss the cliché “One Way or Another” needle drop? How about the superfluousness of several character arcs? Or maybe how this movie takes a great interest in broken systems without sketching the humans at the center? Gutto’s film certainly doesn’t fail to remind viewers of its importance. But you spend the entirety of its languid run-time wondering when this serious narrative will find space to be good.

Gutto wants this movie to serve as an indictment of a system. Traffickers get away with selling young women because the authorities simply do not care. To combat that reality, she teams a retired grump in Agent Gerick (Morgan Freeman) with a fresh, naive upstart Sterling (Cameron Monaghan) as two cops who do care. Through their dedicated eyes, Gutto interrogates the heinous punishment subjected on women by trafficking and the various, unfathomable ways the police perpetuate these crimes through inaction. Beyond that didactic intent, Gerick and Sterling serve very little purpose as they trace the country in Gerick’s station wagon looking for Sally and Leila.

While Binoche is still a wonderful, affecting actress, Freeman’s recent downturn defies understanding. Here, as Gerick, a shadow of his work as Captain Jack Doyle in “Gone Baby Gone,” he spends much of his time dropping f-bombs that are meant to serve as punchlines (maybe?). Even when Binoche and Freeman appear on screen together, the pairing isn’t enough to rouse the distinguished Freeman back to his former heights.

If you squint, you can nearly see the kind of movie Gutto might be aiming for. The opening scenes, for instance, feature Sally talking on a CB radio with other women truckers. She shares a caring, open relationship with them as they support one another on a road often occupied by sexist, predatory men. For a second, you think Gutto might expand this world. But she withholds. We don’t see these other women, for some unconscionable reason, until much, much later.

That doesn’t mean the writer/director totally ignores women. In fact, every scene is composed around the women who occupy the different stratas of the trucking world: One mother begs outside of the outposts for money and food; another, a Black mother and son, are barely shown, except in a check-the-box-of-diversity fashion. And in others, we do peep some women grocery clerks at the rest stops and on the road, other women truckers too. The more successful attempts demonstrate how men big-riggers perpetuate sex trafficking.

In addition to the issues with the film's direction and screenplay, "Paradise Highway" also suffers from pacing problems. The film moves at a slow, meandering pace that makes its already confusing plot even harder to follow. Gutto seems to be aiming for a slow burn approach, but the result is a film that feels tedious and unengaging. Even the action scenes, which should be the most exciting moments of the film, lack energy and tension.

Despite its flaws, "Paradise Highway" is not a complete failure. The film's portrayal of the trucking world and the issues that face women in that industry is intriguing, and the relationship between Sally and Leila is genuinely moving. Binoche and Finley both give strong performances, and the cinematography is impressive. However, these strengths are ultimately overshadowed by the film's muddled plot and poor pacing.

In conclusion, "Paradise Highway" is a disappointing film that fails to live up to its potential. Despite tackling important issues and featuring a talented cast, the film is let down by its direction, screenplay, and pacing. While it may be worth watching for fans of Binoche or Grillo, it is unlikely to leave a lasting impression on most viewers. Hopefully, Gutto will learn from the mistakes made in this film and go on to create more engaging and coherent works in the future.