End Of The Road (2022 Film)
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''End of the Road'' is an 2022 American
crime thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...
film directed by
Millicent Shelton Millicent B. Shelton is an American music video, television and film director. Shelton began her career as a wardrobe production assistant on the Spike Lee film '' Do the Right Thing'' (1989). She went on to direct music videos for artists suc ...
, written by Christopher J. Moore and
David Loughery David Loughery is an American screenwriter and producer. Filmography Writer: * '' Dreamscape'' (1984) * '' The Stepfather'' (1987) (uncredited) * '' Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'' (1989) * '' Flashback'' (1990) * ''Passenger 57'' (1992) ...
, and produced by
Tracey Edmonds Tracey Elaine Edmonds (née McQuarn; born February 18, 1967) is an American businesswoman, television producer and personality. She is the CEO of Edmonds Entertainment Group Inc and Alrightnow.com and is a former host of the television show '' E ...
,
Mark Burg Mark Burg is an American film producer, manager and actor. He is the co-founder of Evolution Entertainment and produced the ''Saw'' film series as well as the CBS television series ''Two and a Half Men''. Biography Burg graduated from the Roy ...
, and Brad Kaplan. The film stars
Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...
,
Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...
, Mychala Lee, Shaun Dixon, and
Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was a ...
. ''End of the Road'' was released on September 9, 2022, by
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
.


Plot

Brenda Freeman and her two children, Kelly and Cam, relocate from Los Angeles to Houston after Brenda’s husband passes away from cancer. Brenda’s brother, Reggie, joins them on their move to Houston to live with their mother while they get back on their feet. During their cross country drive, the group have a run in with a few rednecks who were angry when Kelly dismisses their flirtatious actions. Brenda apologizes to the men, and they continue their journey. Two men recover cash from the Sinola Cartel for the mysterious “Mr. Cross”. One of the men, Harvey, then shoots his partner and drives off with the cash. The family stops at a motel in Arizona, where they hear a gunshot in the next room. Brenda, who is a nurse, rushes to the other room where she finds Harvey bleeding out. When Harvey dies, Reggie discovers the bag full of cash and secretly takes it. After being questioned by the police the next morning, the Freeman’s leave the motel. The local sheriff, J.D. Hammers, calls Brenda and requests that she return to the motel to answer some questions. Brenda declines the request, expressing that she already told the police everything she knew. She then gets a mysterious call from an employee of Mr. Cross, but believes it to be a scam. Brenda later discovers the bag of money and insists that they return it to the police. Brenda gets another call from the employee, demanding the return of their money. Understanding the danger her family is in, Brenda tells the caller that she intends to return the money, but on her own terms. She delivers the money to another motel for Mr. Cross to retrieve. Believing that she is free of the mess, Brenda takes the family to a roadside attraction where Cam is kidnapped. Cross calls Brenda, demanding she deliver the money where he wants her or he will kill Cam. Brenda leaves Kelly in Reggie’s care and returns to the inn where she dropped off the money, only to discover that it is gone. She notices a young woman flee with the bag in a car. Brenda pursues, ending at a biker gang trailer park, where the girl knocks Brenda out. Captain Hammers tracks down Reggie and Kelly, and warns them they must help him solve the case, or Brenda and Cam may die. Hammers takes them to his ranch for safety. Brenda gets free and attacks her captors. When they learn the money belongs to Mr. Cross, they willingly give up the money in fear of their lives. She then leaves to save Cam. Hammers, Reggie, and Kelly arrive at the former’s ranch, where he introduces them to his wife, Val. Hammers opens his trunk to reveal a tied-up Cam and tells them that he is Mr. Cross. The couple lock them in their basement. Hammers / Mr. Cross calls Brenda to deliver the cash. The three Freemans manage to lure Hammers down into the basement, where they stun him. Val intervenes and stabs Reggie with a pair of scissors, but they overpower her. When Brenda arrives they decide to drop the money on the driveway and take their leave. The Hammers free themselves and pursue the Freemans with the intention of killing them to tie up loose ends. When the Hammers catch them, Val attempts to run over Brenda but Brenda throws a road flare into their car. Hammers accidentally blows Val’s head off with his shotgun, then crashes his car into a tree and is killed on impact. The Freemans drive on to Texas. Stopping at a diner, Reggie enthusiastically requests for them to dig in and enjoy as he will be paying for all of it, revealing he took the bag of cash which no longer belongs to anyone. Brenda realizes this is true and the Freemans celebrate over breakfast as they prepare to start their new lives.


Cast


Production

On February 3, 2022, Netflix revealed ''End of the Road'' in a promotional film preview that aired for Super Bowl LVI. Director Millicent Shelton expressed her intention to create a "new genre" with the film, and for the film to reflect the Black experience in America. Queen Latifah, who stars as the film's lead, joined Shakim Compere as an executive producer, making ''End of the Road'' the first thriller that Latifah produced. Filming primarily took place in New Mexico.


Reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 31% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "An action thriller that's neither action-packed nor thrilling, ''End of the Road'' wastes a pair of perfectly good stars on a bottom-of-the-barrel story."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, tt13655328 2022 crime thriller films 2022 thriller films 2022 films 2020s American films 2020s chase films 2020s English-language films 2020s gang films African-American films American chase films American crime thriller films American gang films English-language Netflix original films Films about kidnapping in the United States Films about Mexican drug cartels Films about murder Films about siblings Films about single parent families Films shot in New Mexico Films with screenplays by David Loughery Films directed by Millicent Shelton