A couple of days ago I watched a flick called Freeway (1996) for the first time. Having been told it was dark and twisted by my father, who put me onto the likes of Bad Lieutenant (1992) and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), my interest was piqued. I went in expecting an uncomfortable albeit thrilling watch, which it definitely delivered on tenfold – What I hadn’t been expecting was the overwhelming presence of the powerful messages behind it.

On the surface, Freeway seems to be nothing more than a white trash take on Little Red Riding Hood. In very brief summation, a teenage girl named Vanessa Lutz (Reese Witherspoon) finds herself fleeing foster-care to her grandmother’s home after her parents are once again escorted off to prison. Early on in her efforts, she experiences vehicular troubles. As luck would have it, she is rescued by an overly polite psychologist, Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland). All is peachy keen until it becomes probable that Bob is someone Vanessa had heard about on the news earlier that day – A serial murderer nicknamed the ‘I-5 Killer’.

When it becomes known that Bob is likely the ‘I-5 Killer’, I thought I had this movie penned. I figured the rest of this was going to be a cat-and-mouse situation where we watch Vanessa try to escape – I couldn’t have been more wrong. Vanessa takes matters into her own hands almost immediately, and is successful in doing so which ends up landing her in jail. Having been hardened by years of unresolved trauma, she houses a deep-seated rage inside that has landed her in legal trouble several times prior. Which leads me to my first point – Freeway takes an honest look on the impact of trauma, how it inevitably moulds us into the people we are to become.

Furthermore, it looks at how society has a tendency to victim blame. This is established early on via dialogue exchanged between Vanessa and her would-be killer. He exudes confidence despite the impending likelihood of her escape, because it would be his word over hers. He claims nobody would believe a “garbage person” like her, which unfortunately is typically the case in reality, too. Thematically, this is arguably the most integral message driving the plot. Sympathy is granted from the masses for Bob after the fact, and Vanessa’s word is taken as horrid lies and defamation. It is an absolutely harrowing display, however it serves to raise the stakes and emotional investment of the viewer. I, for one, wanted nothing more than to see this woman come out on top. My eyes were firmly glued to the screen.

Branching off from my prior point, it also gets into the importance of women supporting women. Vanessa finds an untraditional sense of sisterhood with her fellow inmates, despite getting into a physical altercation that rivals the ‘soda-cans-in-pillowcase’ assault from Bad Boys (1983). It becomes very apparent that they must work together in order to achieve their goals – Y’know, the whole ‘united we stand, divided we fall’ bit.

This sounds very pro-woman, and I firmly believe that it is. That being said, I don’t think this film is filtered through rose-tinted glasses by any means. Perhaps the most fascinating piece of this puzzle is its ability to avoid black-and-white characterizations of both the protagonist and antagonist. Both Vanessa and Bob possess good and bad qualities; The two of them are shown engaging in both selfless and heinous acts. I believe this to be entirely true and demonstrative of the core of human nature – None of us are wholly good or evil, and it often boils down to a struggle for power. Bob abuses his power, in that he is manipulating young, vulnerable women to feed an insatiable bloodlust; Vanessa struggles with an absence of power, leading her to carry out immoral acts in the name of self-preservation.

Heavy stuff aside, Freeway will appeal to film fans that have taken a particular liking to bleak and grimy cinema. I had to stifle a giggle of disbelief when I saw this listed as a black comedy online – There truly is nothing to laugh about here. It glances at a fairy tale through a modern lens – The end result being very dark, and very real.