The woman-in-peril genre is certainly among the most overcrowded in recent films, but that doesn't mean there isn't room in which a talented filmmaker can work. Writer-director Scott Reynolds sets his story in a landscape that is both desolate and lovely (New Zealand standing in for coastal California). His female protagonist, Beth (Radha Mitchell), commutes by foot between the motel she runs and a diner where she also seems to be the only employee. Reynolds gives Beth a collection of males to trust or mistrust. She does confide in a local doctor but not in the local sheriff (Kevin Anderson), who's a wife abuser and very interested in her. Four strangers appear at her diner; the lone one (Barry Watson) seems odd but vulnerable, and a group of three are headed by a handsome man (Josh Lucas) who may be trouble but seems ingratiating enough. Playing out the geometry of Beth's instincts toward the men she doesn't know against the men she does, and using the deserted highway as a character (underpopulating this story isn't a matter of budget but of style), Reynolds keeps us off-balance right up to an amazing finale at a gas station. Let the end credits run and you'll be rewarded with a witty postscript to this gripping and entertaining thriller.
