Freeway

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1:23

Freeway

R

1996

1h 42m

Mystery & Thriller

Comedy

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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.

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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.

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Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

Sep 10, 2020

4/5

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

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Joe Leydon

Variety

Mar 26, 2009

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

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Time Out

Jan 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.

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Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

Mar 7, 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.

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Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

Mar 1, 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.

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Ren Jender

Bitch Flicks

Mar 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.

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Landon J

@Minxsykitty Jul 30, 2026

I really thought this was exceptionally crass. No one in this title is worth rooting for. Highly anti climactic resolution, clumsy progression, and unlikeable boring characters. Overall made me depressed. Skip skip skip.

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Kevin G

@kevingaither Jun 13, 2026

There's so many good actors in this movie and I was really looking forward to watching it...hey, it's a 76 76 on RT how bad can it really be. Good thing I watched it on Tubi. Free. I'm not even sure it was worth that much. The only reason why I didn't turn it off was because I just couldn't wait to see how badly this movie was going to end. RT ratings were definitely off on this one.

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Frans B

@FransB May 16, 2026

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.

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revolver.0 8

@Revolver08 Feb 8, 2026

caricature born killers

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Worm W

@Wormwood Jan 22, 2026

:):):):) 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.

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Kimber V.

@MadameOvaries Dec 29, 2025

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.

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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

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Freeway: Trailer 1

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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

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