The Toll is a supernatural horror thriller film about a mysterious threat that haunts an unlikely duo. On their way into the deep woods, a driver and his passenger lose reception and take a wrong turn, which leads them to a night filled with bone-chilling antics that may result in their paying the ultimate toll.
Spencer (Max Topplin) is a rideshare driver who is way out in the woods with his passenger Cami (Jordan Hayes). The ride is awkward because Spencer is a creepy, oversharing driver, while Cami is rude and ungrateful for the very long drive she's paying for.
Cami is sure that Spencer has taken a wrong turn and doesn't trust his motivations, while Spencer is positive there was no alternative route and that Cami has dragged him out in the middle of nowhere. Regardless, the phone reception is lost as they continue. When they reach a sudden stopping point, they must foot it into the deeper and darker parts of the forest, where they both realize that some ghostly force is watching over them.
A message scrawled into the dirt on the rear windshield of the car suggests that they need to pay the toll, but neither one of them knows what that means. Forced to trust each other to save their own lives, they begin to uncover where they are and what they're being asked to do. But is it a human threat that's menacing them, or something more ghostly?
Written and directed by Michael Nader (Head Count, Flock of Four) The Toll sticks to a simple yet solid plot but mines it for gold with a very small cast of characters. Nader manages to succinctly fit an entire film into 80 minutes without it feeling rushed. The mood is captured perfectly between his two leads and the small, well-chosen bit roles.
The creep factor is high in the various locations into which the characters wander. What seems like a straightforward life situation that ordinary people could find themselves in turns into a nightmare scenario. but it's still somehow relatable. That's where the two main characters really have a chance to shine. Their dynamic is at once as tenuous as it is believable and the main crux of the initial mystery.
The Toll performs a rare feat for modern horror films, which is keeping the suspense without wandering into bizarre, effects-heavy, or gruesome visceral images to rely on scares. It conveys as honest world building that pays off as it reveals its cards in measured manner, doling out misfortune to its characters in a nasty crescendo.
The Toll offers a small slice of appetizing horror without getting too gruesome, or resorting to cheap thrills. Well set-up psychological scares build slowly, then pay off nicely. While it may seem like a small movie compared to others in the genre, the low budget doesn't affect the impact of the film, with sound performances from its limited cast.