The Road Within (2016)
by Robbie Jones
Mental health can be a tricky subject to put to film; many would argue that disabilities of this sort have been underrepresented in cinema, and sometime when they are represented, it’s an offensive or disrespectful interpretation (See: Justin Bartha in Gigli, a completely awful caricature of a serious illness). Now I’m no expert on the subject, and I couldn’t say which films get it right and which films get it wrong, apart from the obviously bad, but I reckon The Road Within is a fairly respectful look at a few different illnesses.
The Road Within stars Robert Sheehan as Vincent, a young man with tourettes syndrome who has recently lost his mother, and is sent to a clinic by his distant politician father (Robert Patrick). At the clinic, he meets OCD sufferer Alex (Dev Patel) and anorexic Marie (Zoe Kravitz), and the trio embark on a road trip to California to take Vincent’s mother’s ashes to an old holiday destination.
One of the biggest concerns with films that focus on mental health is the accuracy of the illnesses depicted; as I said, I am by no means clued up on any of the issues present but from what I can tell, each one of them is presented in a realistic and tasteful manner. The Road Within is a pretty solid flick, though it does have its problems; for one, the relationship between Vincent and his father comes off very ham-fisted. The execution of something like this is important as it’s already a cliché, and clichés are fine provided they’re done well, but this one isn’t. At no point does the tension between them feel real, and that’s not for lack of trying on Sheehan and Patrick’s parts, it’s just that this lack of connection is severely undeveloped within the screenplay. The problems continue with Patrick’s character as the film slows down every time it stops to show him and Dr. Rose (Kyra Sedgewick) on their journey. The performances are fine, but this story is nowhere near as interesting as the main one and it’s just tempting to skip them altogether, you likely wouldn’t miss much.
Beyond that, The Road Within is really impressive. Sheehan, Kravitz, and Patel are all fantastic, really pushing the emotional aspects of the film to the extreme, thus pulling them off perfectly. There are certain scenes which feel chaotic, largely down to their conditions and how they’re performed, combined with sound and camera to construct some really heavy scenes. It’s definitely at its best though when things get more calm and more intimate. All of the close scenes between Sheehan and Kravitz are a delight to watch, and the few involving Patel are even better. The film just becomes so much more of an experience than you’re expecting at the start; at times it’s hilarious, at times it’s heartbreaking, and most of the time, it’s poetic.
Well performed, beautifully shot and tastefully written, The Road Within is a very solid film, with a few minor setbacks.
The Road Within is out on DVD and VOD now!