Hit The Road

Hit the Road finds the audience in the borrowed car of a family in the midst of a road trip. In the backseat sits a rather grumpy Father nursing a broken leg. Next to him is six year old younger brother who is doing anything other than sitting. Driving the car is an introspective older brother and beside him in the passenger seat is Mother, exasperated by them all but without a doubt the glue holding them all together.

The purpose of their road trip is unclear, yet in this case it is the not necessarily the destination that is important but the journey. There is an underlying tension in the car, but this tension is punctuated by lots of moments of humour and amusing scenarios. In one scene younger brother shouts out the window to a cyclist in the middle of a competition, causing the car to swerve into him and consequently for him to join the family in the car for a lift. After being drawn into debates in the backseat with both Father and younger brother, the cyclist makes a quick escape claiming he lives nearby even though Father points out that there are not any houses nearby.

Hit the Road is the debut feature of Panah Panahi who has also written the film. Panahi has previously worked on the films of his father, Jafar Panahi, who has been the subject of much persecution by the Iranian authorities. Panahi has been inspired by his father and uses the same keen eye to make observations on human behaviour and family dynamics.

The striking backdrop of the sparse desert and mountains echoes the sparseness of the film. Almost all of the action takes place in the car itself and is beautifully filmed by cinematographer Amin Jafari so that it never really feels claustrophobic or static.

What is most striking about Hit the Road is actually in the minutiae of the film. It is the offhand comments, inane conversations and facial expressions which hit the audience the hardest. These moments are so recognisable in ourselves and in our own families that you cannot help but be deeply affected by them. Perhaps none more so than all the instances in which Mother tries to hold herself together but cannot quite stop the tears from falling. How many times have we tried to smile when all we want to do is break down? In that way Hit the Road is a highly empathetic and relatable film.

★★★★


Drama, World Cinema | 12 | Blu-ray | 17th October 2022 (UK) | Picturehouse Entertainment | Dir. Panah Panahi | Hassan Madjooni, Pantea Panahiha, Rayan Sarlak, Amin Simiar


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