Cold Road* tells the story of Tracy, an Indigenous woman who is driving alone through the vast, frozen wilderness of northern Canada to return to her home reserve in Saskatchewan and see her dying mother one last time. The setting is stark and unforgiving, with endless stretches of ice, snow, and bleak horizon that contribute to a feeling of isolation and vulnerability from the very beginning. Tracy travels with only her loyal dog Pretzel for company, and as the landscape grows colder and emptier, the tension the film builds becomes almost a character itself.
What starts as a quiet, emotional journey quickly turns into a nightmare when a mysterious big-rig truck driver begins to follow her. At first, it’s not clear whether he is simply on the same road, but his presence soon becomes overtly threatening. The truck weaves behind her vehicle, its headlights cutting through the dark snowy nights, creating a sense of being hunted in a place where help is impossibly far away. The relentless pursuit transforms what should have been a meaningful and heartfelt journey into a harrowing survival thriller.
Throughout *Cold Road*, director Kelvin Redvers uses long, wide shots of the desolate highway to emphasize just how alone Tracy is in this vast environment, and how little control she really has over her situation. The film doesn’t rely on elaborate action sequences, but rather on the psychological tension of being followed without any clear way to escape. Every bump in the road, every reflection of headlights in the snow, feels like a threat. Acting with minimal dialogue, Roseanne Supernault as Tracy conveys deep fear, endurance, and a kind of stubborn hope, making the audience feel every second of her vulnerability and resilience.
Despite its gripping premise, some critics have noted that the film’s slow pacing and extended stretches of exposition can reduce the immediacy of the threat. The isolated setting gives the story atmosphere, but the limited number of characters and scenes sometimes make the film feel repetitive and drawn out. However, other viewers find these elements deepen the immersive experience of solitude and dread that comes with being stranded in a frozen wasteland.
At its heart, *Cold Road* is not just about a chase, but about a woman’s desperate attempt to reach her family, to reconcile with her past, and to face the possible loss of someone she loves while confronting a seemingly malevolent force on a road that never seems to end. It is a bleak but powerful exploration of survival, identity, and the emotional weight of returning home under the worst possible circumstances.
