Alex Pettyfer has moved behind the camera with Back Roads, a family drama that promises to keep you guessing.
Based on the book of the same name, the movie follows a group of siblings trying to stay together after a family tragedy. Much of the weight has fallen on the brother, who’s just old enough to maintain custody of his sisters but is entirely overwhelmed by the responsibility. Not helping things is their complicated family history and his multitude of dead-end jobs, which forms a suffocating vortex that seems impossible to escape.
Novel author Tawni O’Dell adapted the screenplay along with Adrian Lyne, but this is Pettyfer’s film through and through. He’s starring and directing, taking on the load of the troubled central character along with all the new responsibilities behind the camera. This isn’t a straightforward film, requiring him to hold the production to a tonal tightrope which could go terribly wrong with one false step.
Backing him up is a cast and crew of accomplished names, including cinematographer Jarin Blaschke (The Witch) and co-stars Juliette Lewis and Jennifer Morrison. They’ll need to lean on each other to pull off the tricky material, but if they nail it Pettyfer will have a striking calling card moving forward.
Back Roads is directed by Alex Pettyfer and stars Pettyfer, Juliette Lewis, and Jennifer Morrison. It will be released in the US on December 7th, 2018. Further release dates are not currently known.
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