Ride-share driver Spencer picks up female passenger Cami at the airport. It's the middle of the night. Cami is suspicious of the awkward Spencer when the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There is a mysterious danger out in the night and they can't escape for some unknown reason.
The first half of the movie is great. There is a great back and forth with suspicion about Spencer. Quite frankly, the paranoia gets to a point where I even suspected Cami of foul play. Then the old lady breaks the tension. She arrives for an info dump and some questionable reveals. I don't get not even trying. Spencer should at least touch the vehicle and hop on to escape. The first half is much better for not revealing anything. The movie functions better without the info dump. The mystery is more compelling. The second half doesn't have quite as much tension.
The Toll
2020
Action / Horror / Thriller
The Toll
2020
Action / Horror / Thriller
Plot summary
It's 1 A.M. An exhausted Cami orders a ride-share at the airport. Her driver: Spencer, awkward and unsettling. Her destination: Her dad's place in the middle of nowhere. Cami grows increasingly suspicious of Spencer's odd behavior. This fear gives way to full-blown terror when their car breaks down on a secluded road. And they both realize they're not alone - Suddenly the car comes under attack - a rock smashes through the window. Attached to a message that warns visitors must "pay the toll." Cami and Spencer realize it's a supernatural force haunting them: the Toll Man, pitting these two strangers against each other. Until they discover that for either to survive, one of them has to die.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
first half great
Road Closed
Cami (Jordan Hayes) uses a ride share to take her from the airport to her father's remote house in Michigan. Spencer (Max Topplin) is her slightly creepy driver who may just be socially awkward. They go down a road and end up stranded unable to leave the area until they pay the Toll Man who we later discover (PLOT SPOILER?) wants a blood sacrifice. In the meantime he messes with their minds with hallucinations attempting to get the two to turn on each other.
This is a nice combination of films most of us have seen. It starts to drag in the middle with just two people in one car, but then it expands. Nice ending I didn't expect, but had minor clues.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity,
Underwhelming at best supernatural entity effort
After taking on a new passenger, the driver of her ride-share cab begins to notice something is odd when the two become stranded on a deserted piece of road in the wilderness and are soon besieged by a supernatural being who preys on weary travelers forcing them to play his games to leave alive.
This was a pretty decent offering for the most part. One of its better features is the rather enjoyable setup that comes off rather nicely. After the bland conversations that take place on the car ride to begin this one, the fateful incident that brings them to stop on the road is a rather tense and shocking scene regardless of the cliched nature it represents. From the suddenness of the appearance and the chaos of the situation trying to come to terms with what's happening to them. That we get a somewhat reasonable explanation for what's going on with the farmer who ventures close to them which fills in enough gaps about the plotline serves this well enough to bring about something resembling a story. As well, when the film manages to start playing around with the concept of the figure actually being there. As the pressure mounts and the two are at odds with each other, the trip through the woods on their own and encountering the weird signs and detours that weren't possible to be on the road seconds earlier and seeing all the weird marks on the side of the road gives this a genuinely chilling atmosphere that plays out with the growing dread that something is out hiding in the woods. When they both encounter similar such experiences and are soon forced into a harrowing series of chases and encounters throughout the woods which plays nicely on the sense of confusion at the figure stalking them in various states around the woods. This series of scenes is where a lot of what holds this up comes from. There isn't much to dislike with this one but they are major factors. One of the main issues is the series of wholly unnecessary and ridiculous subplots about the difference of opinion between the two while in the car. While it's patently understandable to showcase some skepticism about their intentions based on current events and their cautious natures, the longer it goes on the more ludicrous it becomes. Seeing as how both are affected by the situation and targeted by the same being, the whole idea of the two being at odds because she believes he's out to get her even after everything they've been through. It's inherently problematic that all this keeps occurring later in the film as it causes most of the issues to arise as a result. The other real issue here is the somewhat lessened atmosphere and tone that comes to pass in the final half. With the drop off from the supernatural being stalking them and turning into a series of frantic chases that could've arisen due to the setup, the psychological mind-games that are being played with the hallucinations and different figures from their past coming into the story really lowers the tension created beforehand dealing with factors that don't have much in the way of impact since they're too obscure to get the point. As well, with the drawn-out final confrontation that doesn't even bring the creature into this battle for his own film leading to a disappointing main creature, these factors will all bring this one down.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.