Lost Road

Synopsis

Ben and Alee take the scenic route through the Olympic National Forest to the PCH. They’re moving to the Bay Area so Alee can begin her first semester at Stanford. After losing service they come to a fork on the highway and Ben chooses the road on the right. They get into an argument about the move, they keep passing the same turnout littered with abandoned cars. Ben and Alee finally notice. They think their minds are playing tricks on them. How are they driving in circles?  Where’s the fork in the road? They can’t find it. They abandon their car and attempt to walk to the fork, but after a while they find themselves right back at the same turnout. Trapped.

Eventually, Ben and Alee give up and sit in their car trying to make sense of what’s happening. Up ahead of them they see a small fawn walk into the road. BOOM! The fawn crumbles to the ground. Dead. Alee screams. A gun toting man walks out of the woods to collect his kill. This is Matt. Matt has been stuck in the trap, surviving, for 15 years. Matt explains to Ben and Alee how the trap works. He says, "Before you ask, cause you will, I tried almost everything to get outta here. Drivin’, walkin’, runnin’, crawlin’, prayin’. Only thing I haven’t tried is dyin’.” He shows them how he’s domesticated the land to grow food and harvest dew and rainwater and invites them to share his bounty as long as they pitch in on the work. Ben takes to this new structured life with ease but Alee refuses to accept her imprisonment. When Ben tries to get her to see the benefits of this simplified life she breaks up with him.

Ben, devastated by the breakup, loses himself in the day-to-day tasks required to survive in the trap. Alee makes multiple attempts to escape but always ends up back at the turnout. She starts helping Matt and Ben with the daily tasks. After accidentally breaking a dew trap, Matt terrifies her with an ultimatum: get with the program or kill yourself. She gives up on her dreams of escape and starts pulling her weight. Ben, hopeful, attempts to reconcile with Alee but she shoots him down. Ben hardens. Matt, feeling that the time is right, shows them his designs for a farm tower to help survive the winter, and the three begin working on the project.

Sam, a pistol carrying, muscle car driving young woman gets caught in the trap; after multiple attempts at escape, she decides to pitch in on the farm tower to earn her keep. She quickly seduces Ben and the two start hooking up. Matt warns Ben against her, saying “I know her type. Connivin’.", but Ben's already wrapped around Sam’s finger. Alee, not content to remain trapped for the rest of her life, suggests the group try tunneling their way out, something that Matt never tried. Matt begrudgingly agrees that the group can start on the tunnel as soon as the farm tower is completed.

Winter approaches and the atmosphere in the trap gets even more hostile when Sam insinuates that Matt assaulted her. This sends Ben spiraling and he and Matt almost come to blows. Alee doesn’t believe Sam, but she doesn’t want to push the point, she just wants to get out. With tension at an all time high, the tunnel leading out of the trap becomes the lifeline everyone needs…