One For the Road

Director: Daniel Carsenty

Writer: Corey Slater

Cast: Alexander Flores, Travis Hammer, Katie Adler, Richard Clarke-Larsen, Elester Latham and Lisa Goodman

LA Shorts International Film Festival 2024 World Premiere Screening: Sunday, July 21, 2024, Regal LA Live, Los Angeles, CA

Screened at: Critics Screening Link, New York, 7/21/24

Two friendly Samaritans are learning that no matter how pure their intentions are, their seemingly good deeds will still be punished. That’s certainly the case for the new short horror film, ‘One for the Road.’

The movie is based on the 1977 short story of the same name by Stephen King. The short story is set two years after the events of the author’s acclaimed 1975 novel, ‘Salem’s Lot.’ Screenwriter Corey Slater penned the script for, while documentarian Daniel Carsenty directed the, film.

‘One for the Road’ had its World Premiere yesterday, Sunday, July 21, 2024 at 10:00pm at Regal LA Live – DTLA. The project screened in Program 26 during the LA Shorts International Film Festival.

‘One for the Road’ follows truck drivers Took and Booth (Travis Hammer and Alexander Flores) as they’re starting their meals in a desolate roadside diner. When a mysterious, dazed stranger (Richard Clarke Larson) stumbles into the restaurant, he begins to frighten the two truckers and their waitress, Gale (Katie Adler).

Against their initial hesitation, Took and Booth eventually agree to help the stranger, who had car trouble in a blizzard and left his family behind. As if driving in a storm wasn’t bad enough, the truckers realize on their way to help the family that the car stalled amid the scorched and deserted town of Jerusalem’s Lot. All of the surrounding locals refused to go anywhere near the town because of one quality all of the residents have in common: being a vampire.

‘One for the Road’ uses the classic horror narrative tropes to tell the same story about the darkness of humanity that Carsenty

explored in his documentaries. Besides being set in an isolated diner in the desert, the action is initiated by a seemingly dangerous stranger looking for help after his car mysteriously breaks down.

But Carsenty and Slater elaborate on those tropes in their adaptation of King’s short story. The filmmakers expand on one of the most important moral dilemmas in modern society: whether people should risk their own lives to help a stranger, or if they should just mind their own business.

Slater captured King’s classic build-up in the short’s nine-minute runtime. The main characters reveal their true personalities and motivations in their highly-charged, emotional dialogue. That tension is intermittently eased by their natural banter, particularly between Flores and Hammer’s protagonists. The characters justify their differing instincts in the situation – Booth wishes to help the stranger, while Took is determined to flee the scene – with that banter.

Besides the moral quandary presented in the movie, the project’s visual aesthetics also emphasizes the story’s message of the importance of self-preservation. Cinematographer Steven Jared Mangurten balances intimate close-ups with detached wide shots that are immersed in shadows. Such shots emphasize the gloom that builds between Took and Booth with the stranger. The camera angles also highlights the tension between the truckers as they debate the morals of self-preservation.

‘One for the Road’ is a visually stylized, emotional-driven screen adaptation of one of the King’s most notable short stories. The film highlights the protagonists’ true personalities and motivations through their character development, which are driven by both hope and fear. Through stellar acting and cinematography, the movie celebrates the beauty of life and the horror of death.