For teenage Nola (Sabrina Carpenter), home is the open road. Her self-reliant father (Steven Ogg) is her anchor in a life of transience. The pair criss-cross the United States in a lovingly refurbished RV, making ends meet through odd jobs while relishing their independence. A shocking rupture, though, casts Nola out on her own. She makes her way to Albuquerque, New Mexico in search of a mother she never knew, only for her motorhome to break down unexpectedly. But after forging a bond with an auto body shop owner (Danny Trejo), Nola senses the possibility of mooring her ship in this storm.
With an eye for quiet detail, Ani Simon-Kennedy emphasizes the precariousness of young people surviving on the fringes of a country ravaged by income inequality. This unforgiving backdrop makes The Short History Of The Long Road’s hope for Nola all the more moving and a poignant coming of age tale. It is ultimately Carpenter’s movie: she sinks into Nola’s wise but searching old soul in a breakout performance, endearingly detailed and compellingly internal.
—Liza Domnitz
CAST & CREDITS
Directed by Ani Simon-Kennedy
Raised in Paris and based New York, Ani Simon-Kennedy is a feature film, documentary, and commercial director. Under the banner of Bicephaly Pictures, she collaborates with cinematographer Cailin Yatsko on socially-conscious stories.
Director
Ani Simon-Kennedy
Producer
Kishori Rajan, Eddie Rubin, Darren Dean, Cailin Yatsko, Ani Simon-Kennedy, Bettina Kadoorie, Dominique Telson
Screenwriter
Ani Simon-Kennedy
Cinematographer
Cailin Yatsko
Composer
Morgan Kibby
Editor
Ron Dulin
Executive Producer
Fred Bernstein, Shaohua Huang, Harris McCabe, Robert Menzies, Stu Pollard, Eric Schultz, Krios Song, Na Yang, Mike Han
Associate Producer
Steven Wang
Co-Producer
Lu Jia
Cast
Sabrina Carpenter, Steven Ogg, Danny Trejo, Maggie Siff, Rusty Schwimmer