''Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby'' is a 1999

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

and the sequel to ''

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

'' (1996), written and directed by

Matthew Bright Matthew Bright (born June 8, 1952) is a former film director, writer and actor. His first credits were as writer and actor in Richard Elfman, Richard Elfman's 1980 film ''Forbidden Zone'', portraying the twins Squeezit and René Henderson. The ...

. It stars

Natasha Lyonne Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein ( ; born April 4, 1979) is an American actress, director, writer, and producer. She is known for playing Nicky Nichols on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she ...

as Crystal "White Girl" Van Meter and María Celedonio as Angela "Cyclona" Garcia. While the first film was partly inspired by "

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brot ...

", the second film is somewhat based on "

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

". An international co-production film between The United States and Mexico.

Plot

Crystal "White Girl" Van Meter is a 15-year-old prostitute who is sentenced to 25 years for a long list of crimes that include beating up and robbing johns. Transferred to a minimum security hospital to seek treatment for

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eaten ...

, White Girl teams up with Angela "Cyclona" Garcia, a lesbian teenage serial killer. Together, they escape from the hospital, despite White Girl injuring herself on a barbed-wire fence. Cyclona is convinced her beloved former caretaker Sister Gomez can help White Girl with her eating disorder and they head to Tijuana. On the way, Cyclona murders a family and has sex with the dead bodies. White Girl is not happy that Cyclona has stopped taking her meds and insists she continue to take occasional doses should they continue together. They steal the family's car and make their way south. On the way, Cyclona reveals how Sister Gomez saved her from being molested by her father and possibly aliens. After drinking one too many beers and huffing some paint, they crash and fall down a hill laughing. Undaunted, the two fugitives catch a ride on a freight train only to be assaulted by a transient crack addict. Cyclona kills him to protect White Girl, and the two make off with his bag of crack and guns. Venturing into the woods, they leave a trail of crack which is picked away by shady men with crow feathers on their hats. Lost and confused, they make it to the border only to have a stand-off with two customs officials, both of whom Cyclona kills. White Girl, angry that Cyclona has murdered two law-enforcement officials, violently pistol-whips Cyclona and after making her point, the two race to the suburbs of

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

. Upon their arrival in Tijuana, White Girl makes money by luring men to dark alleys on the promise of a good time and mugging them. Cyclona and White Girl check into a run-down motel where they have a moment with beer, a shower and a vibrating bed. White Girl finally gives in to Cyclona's sexual advances toward her and the two of them engage in some rampant lesbian sex. After a few days, the two lovers find a poster that shows Sister Gomez is in town. Sister Gomez appears to be a Catholic/spiritualist healer; Cyclona is very keen that they visit her, for Sister Gomez has protected her from abuse in the past, and might be able to help them. They visit Sister Gomez at her gaudy mission house. Sister makes an enormous roast feast for her "little movie star" (Cyclona) and the friend "with the hungry demon" (Crystal), referring to her bulimia. Cyclona then disappears as White Girl is forced to work for Sister Gomez in the same way as she has been doing, in exchange for food. Finally, Crystal grows weary and makes her way to the basement, where she finds small children in a bondage room with a U.F.O shaped lantern. There is blood everywhere. Cyclona is hanging half-nude in a bondage style contraption. She tells Crystal that Sister Gomez made her watch while she chopped up children and made food out of them. She reveals that her ultimate plan for Crystal was to fatten her up with the meat of the children, and then, serve Crystal up for dinner as well. Crystal concludes that Sister Gomez is the witch-leader of a bizarre cult that rapes and eats children and then sells the child porn videos, protected by the front of a Catholic mission. Ready to deliver justice, White Girl frees Cyclona and kills all the cult members; she also reveals Sister Gomez to be a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...

. Not succumbing to bullets, Gomez is thrown in the oven. Burning, Gomez screams of her 100,000 years of terror and the revenge from her father Jupiter that will ensue. White Girl, keeping a promise made earlier, is forced to kill Cyclona in a tearful scene rather than allow her to be captured. Cyclona, wishing to leave behind a life of abuse and violence, hopes to be reincarnated as an eagle (we discover that Sister Gomez was her earliest abuser). White Girl makes a deal with the federales and leaves with her lawyer/pimp, stating "I'm not hungry anymore."

Cast

Release

The film premiered in the "Midnight Madness" category at the

1999 Toronto International Film Festival The 24th Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 9 to September 18, 1999. The festival opened with Atom Egoyan's '' Felicia's Journey'' and closed with '' Onegin'' by Martha Fiennes. A total of 318 films were screened in the 13 progr ...

. In the United States, it was released

direct to video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

Reception

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 has an approval rating of 36% based on 11 reviews.

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

describes it as "a sketchy but eerily effective take on Hansel And Gretel, with the ever-eccentric Gallo making a profound impact as a creepily soothing, androgynous charlatan with sinister intentions." In

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, Dennis Harvey opines "Lacking the inspired performances as well as wit, suspense, energy and crisp storyline of the first film, it trades in a strained sensationalism that soon waxes surprisingly dull."

References

External links

* * * *
Freeway II: Confestions of a Trickbaby
' at

Tubi Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In January 2021, Tubi reached 33 million monthly ...

{{Hansel and Gretel 1999 films 1999 comedy films 1999 LGBT-related films 1999 crime thriller films 1990s black comedy films 1990s comedy thriller films 1990s crime comedy films 1990s exploitation films 1990s serial killer films American black comedy films American comedy thriller films American crime comedy films American crime thriller films American exploitation films American LGBT-related films American sequel films Mexican black comedy films Mexican comedy films Mexican comedy thriller films Mexican crime films Mexican thriller films Mexican LGBT-related films Mexican sequel films Films about cannibalism Films about cults Films about prostitution in the United States Films about witchcraft Films based on Hansel and Gretel Films directed by Matthew Bright Films set in Tijuana Films shot in Mexico Films shot in Vancouver Films with screenplays by Matthew Bright Lesbian-related films LGBT-related comedy films LGBT-related thriller films Necrophilia in film The Kushner-Locke Company films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s Mexican films