Freeway

Play trailer

1:23

Freeway

R

1996

1h 42m

Mystery & Thriller

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

41 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona (Amanda Plummer), young Vanessa Lutz (Reese Witherspoon) decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland). During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

A modern update on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, Freeway is an audacious black comedy with a star-making performance from the young Reese Witherspoon.

Read Critics Reviews

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

09/10/2020

4/5

Not for the faint hearted but should have been much bigger than it was.

Go to Full Review

Joe Leydon

Variety

03/26/2009

"Freeway" is a thoroughly nasty piece of work, the product of a filmmaker with a ludicrously misplaced confidence in his own cleverness.

Go to Full Review

Time Out

01/26/2006

There's not much edification in store, and [director] Bright cruises over some bumpy plot holes, but the teen's perspective does put a black comic spotlight on wider social hypocrisies.

Go to Full Review

Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

03/07/2021

3.5/5

A black comedy exploitation film with far more social commentary than expected. Sutherland and Witherspoon are magnetic and you wish they would interact more.

Go to Full Review

Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

03/01/2021

5/5

Matthew Bright's Freeway is an intentionally offensive and hilarious update of Little Red Riding Hood with a tour de force performance from a pre-fame Reese Witherspoon.

Go to Full Review

Ren Jender

Bitch Flicks

03/13/2019

Freeway is far from a perfect film but well worth seeing, even for those who don't count themselves as fans of Witherspoon.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Frans B

@FransB May 16

Brilliant! Very well written and directed. Whole cast excels in character, Reese Witherspoon in particular. Great cinematography. Lots of raw action, drama, suspense, twists, emotion and intrigue. Great adaptation, very well executed.

See more

revolver.0 8

@Revolver08 Feb 8

caricature born killers

See more

Worm W

@Wormwood Jan 22

:):):):) Yeh worth the watch. Dark comedies based on fairy tales can actually work well, like this one does. 90's movies before the industry became bent.

See more

Kimber V.

@MadameOvaries Dec 29

I am always shocked that this movie didn’t get a higher rating than it did, as it is one of my biggest dark comedy pleasures.

See more

mark g

@Mark_Alan_G. Dec 5

A dark masterpiece. Little Red Riding Hood with a PCP addiction. Witherspoon revealed that she would not only be a star, she was one. Sutherland is dark and manipulative. This is a hard R and never really stood a chance at mainstream popularity due to the subject matter. However, if you're down with a little darkness, you will revel in the greatness, especially the many comedic moments.

See more

Robert T

@Robertodeeto Nov 29

Darkly humorous, witty and nasty, Freeway is an original take on the Red Riding Hood fairytale, featuring a wonderful performance by the teenage Reese Witherspoon, before she became a star

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Matthew Bright

Director

Kiefer Sutherland

Bob Wolverton

Reese Witherspoon

Vanessa Lutz

Brooke Shields

Mimi Wolverton

Wolfgang Bodison

Detective Mike Breer

Dan Hedaya

Detective Garnet Wallace

Clay Pigeons

62%

68%

Clay Pigeons

Watchlist

Miami Blues

86%

62%

Miami Blues

Watchlist

Backtrack

40%

25%

Backtrack

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Backtrack

Heart Condition

10%

33%

Heart Condition

Watchlist

Stakeout

89%

56%

Stakeout

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Reese Witherspoon’s 10 Best Movies

Total Recall: Fairy Tales for Grownups

"Resident Evil: Extinction" Has an Arrival Date

Freeway: Trailer 1

1:23

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona (Amanda Plummer), young Vanessa Lutz (Reese Witherspoon) decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland). During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.

Director: Matthew Bright
Producer: Chris Hanley, Brad Wyman
Screenwriter: Matthew Bright
Distributor: Roxie Releasing, Republic Pictures
Production Co: Illusion Entertainment, Muse Productions, Kushner-Locke Company, August Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 23, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $283.8K
Runtime: 1h 42m