The Short History of the Long Road

Teenager Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) travels and lives off the grid in a van with her father Clint (Steven Ogg). Suddenly, her father dies and she sets off on her own. It's a struggle. She encounters religious do-gooder Marcie, garage owner Miguel (Danny Trejo), and troubled teen Blue. All the while, she dreams of finding her long absent mother Cheryl.

This is an interesting off-the-grid and coming-of-age story. It threatens to be something more intense but it never really push it to the next level. Despite the dangers of the road, she finds only people who are helpful to varying degrees. It is highlighted by a very deep performance from Sabrina Carpenter. One thing I would do is to make the van a much bigger presence. It is the center of many situations and ends up being the final talisman. This is a terrific performance from a young actress in a somewhat compelling story.

Great indie film here about a girl who lives in a van with her father as they travel around as she goes in search of herself. The film has some shocks I won't reveal but I highly recommend it. I actually felt it had a similar concept to Nomadland only with a better story. The performances were really solid and it was a nice surprise to see Danny Trejo appear. At the heart of this film, it is actually a coming of age tale. But it is so much more.

Young Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) and her dad basically travel out west and live in their old VW van. He works odd jobs to earn some cash and he teaches his daughter the ways of life. She was named after the city (New Orleans) and they hope to get there at some point. She never knew her mother who left when Nola was a baby and she hopes to someday track her down.

When things take a big turn and Nola finds herself alone with the van she has to make a whole new plan, including befriending an auto shop owner and working for him for a time to pay for towing and van repairs. When she finds her mom she learns the whole story, she may have been abandoned but at least she was allowed to live. Striking out alone again she finds a traveling group of van owners, this might be her logical family.

This is mostly a quiet movie but a good character study. We had not heard of Sabrina Carpenter before but she is really good in the role, all 5' 1" of her. I found out later she is an accomplished singer and songwriter, maybe we will see more of her.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

Excellent, Sabrina Carpenter's performance is amazing, I liked the plot and the way the story is told. The locations are very beautiful, and the story is very entertaining and exciting.

All of us have wanderlust. Whether realized via a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive, a spontaneous road trip, an exotic resort vacation or a lifestyle, we as humans are innately driven to get up, get out and migrate about at various points in our lives.

The new drama "The Short History of the Long Road" is all about this need to move. Sabrina Carpenter is wonderful here as Nola, a young woman who has known nothing but crisscrossing America in a clunky vintage van with her vagabond father. Nola is traveling a road to discovery in her young life. We watch as she learns that home is where you make it, a residence of the soul, not limited to physical location nor trappings.

And I must give heartfelt props to Writer/Director Ani Simon-Kennedy for "daring" to show Christians who are actually fully dimensional, real people, not caricatures to be exploited and belittled. This shouldn't be bold. But amidst the mentally of the modern motion picture community, it is.

God Bless you for sharing your own voice, Ms. Simon-Kennedy. And for not letting it drown in the malicious and mystifying anti-faith messaging flooding your business.