Curve is a compact, nerve-wracking survival thriller that manages to take a simple premise and push it into brutally claustrophobic territory. The film follows Mallory, a young woman on a lonely road trip whose life swerves—literally and figuratively—when she picks up a charming stranger who quickly reveals himself to be a sadistic predator. What begins like a typical cautionary tale turns sharply into a tense, intimate fight for survival when Mallory crashes her car and becomes trapped inside, injured and immobilized, while her would-be killer watches from the sidelines and toys with her psychological stability.

The film’s greatest strength is its ability to create tension inside a confined space. Almost the entire runtime takes place within the overturned car, where Mallory is wedged between crushed metal, broken glass, and the growing dread of dehydration and starvation. The camera work uses tight angles and dim lighting to emphasize her vulnerability, making the audience feel just as trapped as she is. The isolation is overwhelming: every drip of water, every flicker of daylight, every distant sound becomes a reminder of how desperately alone she is.

Julianne Hough’s performance is surprisingly strong, grounding the film with raw emotion and physical intensity. Her fear, frustration, and eventual determination feel believable, especially given the psychological torture inflicted by Teddy, the antagonist. Teddy’s calm, almost polite demeanor makes him far more unsettling than a typical horror villain—he doesn’t need to be loud or violent to be terrifying. His visits to the crash site, where he taunts Mallory with cheerful casualness, are some of the film’s most chilling moments.

What keeps Curve engaging is the slow transformation of Mallory’s character. The movie isn’t only about physical survival; it’s about the shift from helplessness to resilience. As days pass and her condition worsens, she begins to use the very constraints of the car to her advantage, turning the wreckage into a twisted form of protection and empowerment. By the time the story reaches its final section, her desperation has evolved into a primal will to live, giving the ending a cathartic punch.

While Curve doesn’t reinvent the survival-horror genre, it uses its minimalist setup effectively and avoids unnecessary filler. Some viewers may find the pacing slow in the middle stretch, and the psychological interplay could have gone deeper, but the film remains gripping thanks to its atmosphere, performances, and palpable sense of danger.

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