They say, "A mother brings out her hunter's skills when her children are in danger and you don't want to be the prey when she hunts". "End Of The Road (2022)" reminded me of the quote above. Now, I know the title of my post looks strange Haha, but hear me out till the end then you understand why I wrote my title like that. Watching this movie was an intense thrill for me because I was tense throughout the movie and I will consider this movie as a controversial one because the sensitive topic of Racism was tested hard, hence why I wrote the title like that.
"End Of The Road (2022)" is a Netflix original movie that was directed by Millicent Shelton and written by Christopher J. Moore with David Loughery. This movie is an American Crime thriller film that starred Queen Latifah, Ludacris, Mychala Lee, Shaun Dixon, and Beau Bridges. It is a movie whose plot revolves around an ER Nurse, who is moving to her mother's place with her two children and her Brother, but then their road turns into hell in a desert in the middle of Arizona. Brenda had to switch survival mode to keep her family alive.
Little Synopsis.
It starts with Brenda preparing to relocate her two children Cam and Kelly to Houston (her mother's place) because she had to give up their house to pay off debts owed when her deceased husband was sick with Cancer. Reggie (Brenda's brother) joined them to move to Houston. On the other hand, we were introduced to a scene where two men recover a bag of money from a Cartel called Sinola for their boss named “Mr. Cross". After the transaction was successful, one of the men, Harvey shot his partner in the head and took the bag of money with him.
Back to Brenda and her family during their drive towards Arizona, they had to stop for a gas refill and Kelly encountered two young white silly boys who made flirtatious whistles and glances at her but out of irritation, she gave them the middle finger, rejecting their advances. The white boys wouldn't have it. So they went after Brenda after they left the gas station and went ahead to block the road. Brenda realized that her daughter was at fault for how she dismissed the boys and had no option but to step out of the car to apologize to them as the silly white required. With that behind them, Brenda logged her family in a cheap motel called Sunset valley to rest for the night deep within Arizona.
So they were fast asleep when they heard violent sounds and a gunshot from the room next to theirs. Brenda, an ER Nurse, rushed to the room and saw a man (Harvey) bleeding out from a gunshot wound to the neck. Giving the man first aid treatment she told Kelly to call the police while Reggie assisted her, but unfortunately, the man died. Reggie discovered a bag of money in the deceased room and took it.
This bag of money happened to belong to the Drug boss, Mr. Cross which puts them under the microscope of Mr. Cross. Will they survive? Will Mr. Cross get his money back?
Racist?
As I said earlier, this movie was termed racist by a lot of people which made the movie controversial and the director was blamed for this. To me, this movie is not racist and the director did a fantastic job. I see it as a necessity, a sensitive topic that needs to be portrayed in movies so people don't assume that racism is fading away. Let's not forget that in the South, like Arizona racism is still very severe there and in some particular countries. It may look like it paints white people badly, but honestly, that's how it is in those countries or towns. The movie just painted the perfect reality of an average black family in that situation and this movie was mild. In real life, it will be more brutal than that. If the reverse was the case, I bet you this movie won't be considered racist and won't be rated low.
My Review And Rating
I watched this movie because after reading all the negative reviews of some angry people, I became curious and I wanted to see what this movie was all about for myself. For me, this movie is amazing and it was enjoyable for me. Though I have a slight problem with the plot which seems too predictable to me. From the beginning of the movie, I knew the identity of Mr. Cross (Antagonist) and it was easy for me to spot him as the villain. There was no mystery to his identity which is the flaw of the plot. Aside from that, it was well written. The storyline is a reflection of a normal average Black family in that kind of situation which I know worse scenarios would have happened before.
Let's not forget how the storyline of this movie explored themes like morality (which was in the case of Reggie when he stole the bag of money from the motel and Brenda returned the money) and survival (which in the case of Brenda fighting relentlessly to make sure no harm came to her family. She did give up regardless of many obstacles and setbacks she faced).
The development of the characters was okay, except for Mr. Cross' character which I feel should have been developed in a mysterious way that will keep the audience guessing who is actually the villain. Then, Reggie's role was thinly built. I didn't really connect with his character that much but the rest of the characters were all good, especially Brenda. I admire her bravery. My favorite characters are Cam and Brenda and Kelly was annoying to me.
The action scenes were shot well and very vivid. Nothing was blown out of human proportion. It felt real and it was easy to relate to how Brenda fought for her life and her loved ones at the same time. The stunts were realistic and natural. The location was perfect for the movie, the scene arrangements were also amazing and the camera work was fantastic. Violence, foul language, and gore were controlled but the message was conveyed perfectly.
Rating this movie, I will give it 4 out of 5 stars. I will recommend this movie to crime and thriller flick lovers and also to Queen Latifah's fans. It was a short and fantastic watch for me. The action was tightly paced and when the movie ended, I felt like it was quick. If you have watched it, go watch it now and ignore all the negative critics.
 *All images above are from the movie screenshots*Thank you for visiting and supporting my blog 🤗
