Cold Road is a Canadian thriller in this year. The story structure and emotions are quite good in this film and will make you wonder what happens to the main character.

In Cold Road, Tracy, which is the main character, returns to her hometown of Stony Narrows to visit her sick mother. Her journey on the long, isolated highway in the Canadian North is difficult. The gas stations are far apart, the cell phone reception is poor, and the roads are icy. But the real danger she faces isn’t just the weather or the road—it’s something far more terrifying.

We soon learn that a sadistic trucker has been targeting Indigenous women along the same highway. He stalks his victims like a hunter, and his truck is filled with trophies from each of his kills. By planting half-full bottles of alcohol at crime scenes, the trucker has convinced the police that the deaths are just accidents caused by drunk driving. But the local Indigenous community knows something is wrong, even though the authorities refuse to listen to them.

 As Tracy makes her way through her journey, we see how her encounters with white Canadians, for example, a waitress who ignores her cry for help and a police officer who sees her as a threat, become just as dangerous as the killer chasing her. The trucker’s anonymity, much like the faceless killer in Spielberg’s Duel, adds to the tension, making Tracy’s fear and sense of danger even more real for us.

While the movie does a good job of showing Tracy’s fear and isolation, especially when the trucker’s truck follows her in a way that makes it seem like a predator stalking its prey, the film struggles with too much exposition. Because most of the movie takes place in Tracy’s car, we get a lot of explaining instead of showing, which slows things down. At first, the explanations are helpful, like when we learn about Tracy’s unhappy marriage through a conversation with her sister, Eve. But as the story builds, Tracy’s constant need to talk through every thought and action gets a bit annoying, and we start to feel like the film is just forcing the plot along.

There are moments when Tracy makes decisions that don’t make sense, like when she throws away a weapon that could help her. These actions feel forced, and we begin to notice that the story isn’t progressing naturally. It’s almost as if the film is running out of space to develop.

Despite these problems, we can’t deny the strength of Supernault’s performance. She brings a lot of depth to Tracy, even in the quieter moments when she’s alone in the car with only her dog, Pretzel, for company. Her performance keeps us interested in Tracy’s journey, even when the story itself is weaker.

 Cold Road may not be the perfect trucker thriller, but there’s potential in the concept. Thanks to Supernault’s strong portrayal of Tracy, we see what the film could have been if the script had been tighter. There are some thrilling moments, but in the end, the film’s journey feels like it’s lost its way.