malayalam road trip movies

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Top 9 Malayalam Travel Movies – Movies that inspire you to Travel

Movies that inspire as to travel is an interesting topic from time to time. Though we have seen many movies in Hollywood with this concept, when coming to India the numbers are pretty less. Skipping Bollywood and jumping directly to Kollywood,  we are able to see that the count starts to increment in the last few years.

Well, without any laggy intro here are 9 Malayalam movies that will inspire you to travel a.k.a. Travel Inspiring movies in Malayalam.

01 Neelakasham Pachakkadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (2013)

The film revolves around Kasi (Dulquer Salmaan) and Suni (Sunny Wayne) who go on a road trip from Kerala to Nagaland. The film was shot in seven Indian states including Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Nagaland, and Sikkim .

02 Carbon (2018)

The story flies through the journey of Sibi(Fahadh Faasil) how starts to search for a treasure hidden somewhere in a deep jungle. Shot in Pala, Erumeli, and places in and around Kottayam, Idukki including Ammachi Kottaram (the lodge in the jungle) & Chimmony Wildlife Sanctuary (Doore Doore- song)] and Wayanad.

03 Rani Padmini (2015)

The movie tells the story of two women(Rima Kallingal, Manju Warrier), who in order to escape the society they are trapped in, unite to travel across North-India. The film was shot extensively in Jammu and Kashmir , Himachal Pradesh , Delhi, and Kerala.

04 North 24 Kaatham (2013)

North 24 Katham revolves around the journey of three strangers(Fahadh Faasil, Nedumudi Venu, Swathi Reddy) who happen to get stranded on a hartal day.

05 Anarkali (2015)

‘Anarkali’, is purely the journey of an ex-naval officer(Prithviraj Sukumaran,) in search of his girlfriend (Priyal Gor), whom he had promised to reunite with.

Anarkali was shot mostly in Kavaratti, Bangaram, and Agatti in Lakshadweep. This is one of the featured films that explores the marvelous beauty of Lakshadweep.

06 Charlie (2015)

The story flies around the journey of a young woman Tessa, (Parvathy) who goes in search of the mysterious and enigmatic man named Charlie(Dulquer Salmaan), whom she has never met. The film was shot mostly in Fort Kochi, Munnar , Idukki etc

08 Veettilekkulla Vazhi (2011)

The films show the journey of a Doctor (Prithviraj) who, in order to keep his promise to a dying mother, takes her young boy back to his father who is actually a terrorist. The film was mainly shot on Ladakh , Kashmir, Jaisalmer , Jodhpur , Bikaner, Ajmer, Pushkarand, Delhi, and Kerala.

09 Idukki Gold (2011)

The movie revolves around the story of four friends(Maniyanpilla Raju, Babu Antony, Vijayaraghavan, Pratap Pothen, and Raveendran) reuniting after a long period of time and the journey to their childhood memories. Idukki Gold was mostly shot in Idukki .

10 Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi (2015)

The film moves with the journey of a Nature Enthusiast(Kunchako Boban) to save an unknown tribal village called ‘7000 Kandi’ with the help of 6 likely minded people and the tribes. The film was set and shot at Wayanad,  Idukki , Pune, and Chennai.

Love Photography & Travel? Sign up for our  newsletter  and stay updated with the latest articles. Feel free to follow us on Facebook , Instagram , Youtube as well as on Twitter . Which is your favorite movie among the above? Does it feel like we miss some movies? feel free to let us know your thought as comments…!

So these were some of the inspiring travel-inspiring movies that we like from South India. Wait a minute; did we forget any of your favorite travel Kollywood movies to discuss? Let us know the same in the comments section. Also feel free to checkout some of the top travel movies from Bollywood Travel Movies that inspire you to Travel .

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01 /6 malayalam movies that will make you pack your bag and travel.

Sometimes when you get in the right mood to pack your bags and take a day or a week out to make that memorable trip, then comes the ultimate and not-so-easy task of choosing where to wander off. Movies are the perfect cure to tackle this issue and we have seen several worthy-to-explore destinations in movies that feed the fodder to the wanderlust inside you. Here let's take a look at 5 Malayalam movies that will make you want to travel.

(Picture Courtesy : Facebook)

02 /6 Neelakasham Pachakkadal Chuvanna Bhoomi

Even though there have been several travel movies in Malayalam, the Dulquer Salmaan starrer ‘Neelakasham Pachakkadal Chuvanna Bhoomi’ was the first entry into the category ‘Road movie’. The movie released in 2013 tells the story of a youngster named Kasi who embarks on a road trip from Kerala to Nagaland in search of his girlfriend. The movie was helmed by Sameer Thahir and the script was penned down by Hashir Mohammed. The movie beautifully captures the essence of a road movie and makes you want to travel.

03 /6 Rani Padmini

“Why should boys have all the fun?” Watching Aashiq Abu’s directorial film ‘Rani Padmini’ will make one ask this question to oneself. The film tells the story of Padmini and Rani, two women coming from entirely different family backgrounds, who get acquainted with each other while traveling through unfamiliar places. The movie has all the elements of a road movie equipped with some suspense and fun elements. The characters Padmini and Rani were essayed by Manju Warrier and Rima Kallingal.

04 /6 Kilometers and Kilometers

Bullet lovers assemble!. This Tovino Thomas starrer movie will make you kickstart your bullet bike and wander off to someplace. The director Jeo Baby also perfectly establishes an emotional connection between Tovino Thomas’ character Josemon and his bullet bike, which will be relatable to most youngsters. The story revolves around the local handyman Josemon who turns a travel guide for an American client named Cathy and takes her on a journey all through India. The plot develops as both the characters develop an understanding of each other during the travel.

05 /6 Ordinary

The 2012 Kunchacko Boban starrer comedy thriller ‘Ordinary’ literally introduced the village named Gavi in Pathanamthitta district, to the audience. All thanks to the cinematographer Faisal Ali who beautifully captured the landscapes in Gavi. The film directed by Sugeeth also featured the actors Biju Menon, Asif Ali, Joju George, and Ann Augustine in pivotal roles.

(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)

06 /6 Charlie

Just like how ‘Ordinary’ introduced the village ‘Gavi’ to the audience, ‘Charlie’ made the Indian peak ‘Meesappulimala’ famous among Malayali. Many after watching ‘Charlie’ rushed to the adventurous location ‘Meesappulimala’ and for over a month the place was stacked with tourists. All thanks to Dulquer Salmaan’s iconic dialogue in ‘Charlie’ that goes by, “Have you seen snow falling on Meesappulimala.?”

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5 best Malayalam movies on road trip

Capturing the beauty and excitement of road trips, these Malayalam movies will surely fuel your wanderlust.

When it comes to escaping from the monotonous busy schedule and enjoying life to the fullest, there's nothing better than going on an adventurous road trip with some good company. Through exploring new places and meeting interesting people on the routes, these trips offer you an opportunity to rediscover yourself and understand the true meaning of life. And that's why several filmmakers have chosen road trips as a medium to capture the internal journey of their movies' characters. Although relatively unexplored, Mollywood has produced a number of movies having road trips as the main theme, which will surely encourage you to hit the roads.

Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi: Hugely inspired by 'The Motorcycle Diaries', this film follows two friends Kasi and Suni who set out on a road trip in search of Kasi's girlfriend. While traveling in several states including Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal, Nagaland etc., they go through some situations that change their life. 'Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi' is a must-watch film because of the thrilling moments, spectacular locations and great visuals.

North 24 Kaatham: Anil Radhakrishnan Menon's directorial debut 'North 24 Kaatham' is a refreshing and light-hearted movie conveying a plethora of emotions to its viewers. It revolves around Harikrishnan, a software engineer suffering from OCD, who happens to embark on a road journey with two strangers and learn several important life lessons on the trip.

Rani Padmini: Directed by Aashiq Abu, 'Rani Padmini' follows Rani and Padmini, two women coming from completely different family backgrounds, who meet on road and go on an exciting journey. The film celebrates feminism through the characters as they choose travel to escape from the society and solve several life problems on roads. It will literally take you on a virtual trip to the Himalayas.

Veettilekkulla Vazhi: ' Veettilekkulla Vazhi' tells the story of a doctor who, in order to fulfill a patient's last wish, embarks on a road journey to unite her young boy with his father. Featuring Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead role, it deals with terrorism in India and takes you on an adventurous journey through its characters. The mesmerizing beauty of Jammu & Kashmir is captured beautifully in this movie.

Kali: 'Kali' is about a short-tempered guy Siddharth and his wife Anjali who are finding it hard to live together. When they go on a bike trip to visit Anjali's home, the plot soon turns into a dark thriller as the couple encounter with a gangster on road. The film is full of breathtaking cinematography, stunning background music and stellar performance from the lead stars.

'Kilometers and Kilometers', 'Anarkali', 'Lord Livingston 7000 Kandi' are some other Malayalam road-trip movies which you can surely give a watch.

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Dulquer Salmaan's 'Kali' and other Malayalam road trip movies that invoke wanderlust

Updated February 21st, 2021 at 18:49 IST

From Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoo, Kilometers and Kilometers to North 24 Kaatham. Read below list to know more Malayalam movies with scenic views.

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Of all Dulquer Salmaan's movies, Kali was definitely road trip goals for fans. There are many other such movies that contain scenic views from epic road trips. Right from Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi to North 24 Kaatham , read on to know about many other Mollywood movies that showed the beauty of going on road trips.

Released on March 26, 2016, Dulquer Salmaan and Sai Pallavi's Kali  focuses on Siddharth, played by Dulquer, who has a hard time controlling his temper. Anjali (Sai Pallavi), Siddharth'swife, does not wish to continue to live with Siddharth and his anger issues. Siddharth's attempt to drop Anjali off at her home in Masinagudi, Tamil Nadu, turns into an adventurous road trip for the two. 

Also Read |  Dulquer Salmaan's Over-the-top Romance Films Which We Have Come To Adore

Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi

Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi,  which translates to Blue Skies, Green Waters, Red Earth, can make anyone fall in love with nature. The plot of the movie revolves around best friends Kasim (Dulquer Salmaan) and Sunil (Sunny Wayne) who embark on a road trip in search of Kasim's girlfriend Assi (Surja Bala Hijam). The characters travel from Kerala to Orissa, then go to Kolkata, to reach their final destination in Nagaland.

Veetilekkulla Vazhi

Veetilekkulla Vazhi  follows a doctor (Prithviraj Sukumaran) who must fulfil the dying wish of one of his patients, find her five-year-old son and reunite him with his father. The journey is full of ups and downs as the doctor and the child (Master Govardhan) must weave through terrorist networks to find the child's father, Abdul Zuban Tariq (Indrajith Sukumaran), who is the head of a terrorist group. 

Also Read |  Dulquer Salmaan's Instagram Posts That Show His Love For His Family | Check Out Here!

Rani Padmini

Rani (Rima Kallingal) and Padmini (Manju Warrier) are two women from entirely different backgrounds of life who set out on a journey to find Padmini's husband, Giri (Jinu Joseph), to resolve a personal issue. The two must also dodge mobster Raja (Harish Khanna) and is gangsters, who have threatened Rani's life. The two protagonists are seen travelling from Kochi, Kerala to Manali, Himachal Pradesh. 

Kilometers and Kilometers

Anto Joseph Film Company's Kilometer and Kilometers  follows Josemon (Tovino Thomas) who is hired by an American, Cathy (India Jarvis) as a local guide to take her to different places in India before she has to return to the US via Jaipur. Like many other movies, the movie scheduled to release in theatres on March 12, 2020, had to be rescheduled and was premiered on Onam on Netflix. 

Also Read |  Dulquer Salmaan Unveils First Look Of 'Bheeshma Parvam', Says 'how Epic Does This Look'

North 24 Kaatham

The plot revolves around Harikrishnan aka Hari (Fahadh Faasil), who has Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder. On his train journey to Trivandrum, he meets Gopalan (Nedumudi Venu) and Nani (Swathi Reddy), a social worker, who get off the train to journey back to Kozhikode to Gopalan's dying wife. Hari follows them as Gopalan forgets his cellphone on the train. The three end up on a journey where Hari overcomes his OCPD with the help of Nani.

Also Read |  Dulquer Salmaan Announces His New Film Project With Diana Penty, Read Details

Published February 21st, 2021 at 18:49 IST

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Chuzhal review: A thrilling, must-watch road movie

A group of friends is on a road trip to attend a reception at a high-range location. They are already late and are perplexed by the unruly driving of local motorists. Their joyous ride is marred intermittently by the rash driving of others. And then they suddenly encounter an 'edge-of-the-cliff' moment, when their car veers off the road in a bid to avoid a collision.

Chuzhal , written and directed by Biju Maani, released on NeeStream is a roller-coaster horror-cum-road movie swinging and swaying the viewers till the title credits roll up. The pace and liveliness is the highlight of the narrative. The characters are just the common youthful folks we meet everyday and their interactions are so original and fun-flavoured that you would love to be part of the group.

The story pans out in a non-linear pattern. Those who pay some extra attention might be able to grab the thrill of the suspense a tad earlier. The high drama unfolds as the group of youngsters find a villa for a  night's stay. The caretaker, played by Jaffer Idukki, is a friendly and servile host, who is ever eager to put them at comfort.

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'Kaanekkaane' movie review: An emotional thriller exploring human flaws and complex bonds

Moving away from the conventional horror suspense that is generally tagged with eerie music, spooky and white-robed apparitions, zombies or smoky goblins, Chuzhal pitches a different norm. Rather than horrifying the events excite and ramp up curiosity.

When the narrative shifts to an interlude of hapless misery, we tend to share the pangs of the characters who sustain it.

However, by making the horror scenes bit more horrifying and by curtailing certain lengthy sequences, the movie could have climbed a level higher. Yet, the package has enough fuel to grip you.

The performance of the actors including Jaffer Idukki, R J Nilja, Abin Mary, Sanju Prabhakar, Gazal Ahamed and Sreenath Gopinath; music by Hesham Abdul Wahab, camera of Sajid Nazer that follows the path and emotions of the characters, the sound design to sum up the theme and its thrill all work together to conjure the suspense of the drama. 

The movie weaves road rash, youthful vigour, a malady and horror as its salient features and at the same time drives home a point that any one who is behind the wheels on the street must heed to.

(The movie is available on NeeStream)

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Home » News » Falimy release date: When and where to watch Basil Joseph, Jagadish’s road trip drama »

Falimy release date: When and where to watch Basil Joseph, Jagadish’s road trip drama

Directed by Nithish Sahadev, Falimy - starring Basil Joseph, Jagadish and Manju Pillai - is releasing on November 17

• Hridyambika A Manu

Last Updated: 10.58 AM, Nov 13, 2023

Malayalam actor-director Basil Joseph is all set for the release of his road trip comedy-drama film, Falimy, directed by Nithish Sahadev. Jointly bankrolled by Cheers Entertainment and Sooper Dooper Films, the movie also stars Jagadish, Manju Pillai, Sandeep Pradeep and Meenaraj Palluruthy. Falimy appears to be similar to films like Home, the plot of which delves into the lives of dysfunctional families. The movie is slated to hit the theatres on November 17. 

Basil Joseph-starrer Falimy’s plot

The plot of Falimy is set in the backdrop of a family, where Basil plays a young man who is eager to get married, while Jagadish plays his irresponsible father. Basil’s brother advises him to skip arranged marriage and opt for a live-in relationship instead, as it is less ‘time consuming and easier’. The rest of the story revolves around the family travelling from Thiruvananthapuram to Varanasi to find a bride for Basil’s character.

Going by the trailer, the film promises complete family entertainment, with comedy and emotional content. Manju’s performance in the teaser reminds us of her character in Home, who as a mother is always concerned and worried about her family and sons. The chemistry between Manju, Jagadish and Basil in the teaser is something to watch out for.

Falimy’s cast and crew

The comedy drama film’s cast also includes Raina Radhakrishnan and Amith Mohan Rajeshwari. Family is distributed by Icon Cinemas. Scripted by Nitish and Sancho Joseph, Vishnu Vijay of Thallumaala and Kasargold fame has scored music for the movie.

Also read: Falimy teaser: Basil Joseph takes you on a fun ride  

Basil Joseph’s upcoming projects

The actor-director is set to appear alongside Prithviraj Sukumaran in Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil, helmed by Vipin Das, who is known for Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey. Furthermore, Basil will feature in Varshangalkku Shesham, directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan, which also stars Pranav Mohanlal, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Dhyan Sreenivasan and Nivin Pauly. He is also rumoured to be directing a Bollywwod movie, starring Ranveer Singh.

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15 Best Malayalam Comedy Movies of All Time

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Indian cinema has carved a niche for itself in the world platform. Regional cinemas have contributed a lot to this feat. With the upcoming popularity of movies from the south and the fermenting north vs south debate, Malayalam cinema, in particular, has garnered a lot of attention. The industry has produced some of the finest and most hilarious movies that have left audiences in splits. Over the years, the Malayalam film industry has produced some timeless comedy classics that continue to make us laugh even today. In this article, we will delve into the world of Malayalam comedy movies and take a look at some of the best movies that have brought tears of joy to our eyes

What sets Malayalam comedy movies apart is the attention to detail in the writing. The movies are not just about making people laugh but also have a strong storyline and well-defined characters.

1. Kilukkam (1991)

This movie starring evergreen actors Mohanlal and Revathi follows the story of Nandini and Joji. Nandini, who is in search of her father, pretends to be mentally ill in order to gain shelter at his house. Joji and Nandini are polar opposites, and their interactions form the basis of the humor in the movie. This movie is sure to tickle a funny bone or two in you. The chemistry between Mohanlal and Revathy is excellent and adds to the film’s overall charm. It is available on Disney+Hotstar.  

2. Pranchiyettan & The Saint (2010)

Starring the superstar Mammootty, this movie is a hilarious take on the eponymous protagonist who sets out to popularise himself in the larger society. It’s the story of a wealthy businessman named Pranchi, who is obsessed with his social status and tries to elevate his status in society by getting an honorary title from the church. The film’s humor is derived from Pranchi’s antics and his constant struggle to achieve his goal.

The supporting cast, including Siddique, Innocent, and Priyamani, also deliver excellent performances, adding to the film’s overall charm. This movie is streaming on MX player.

You may also like: 10 Best Malayalam Movies on Netflix You Should Stream Immediately

3. Romancham (2023)

With an impressive IMDb rating of 8.1, the movie is a comedy-drama about seven bachelors and their encounter with spirits. This Soubin Shahir- starrer has successfully minted 62 crores at the box office in the very first month.

The film tells the story of three friends, Rony, Manu, and Chemban, who set out on a road trip to Chennai to fulfill Rony’s dream of becoming a singer. Along the way, they encounter a series of hilarious and unexpected situations that form the basis of the film’s humor.

4. Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2022)

This comedy-drama starring Mammootty tells the story of a group of Malayali travellers and how one of them starts to behave like a Tamil native. This movie walks the viewers through a tale of dreams, delusions, and loads of chuckles. It is available on Netflix.  

5. Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam (1986)

This movie follows the story of a house owner’s dire attempt to make his tenants leave his property. This is an evergreen comedy movie starring Mohanlal and is available on Youtube.  

6. Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu (1988)

This movie has Sreenivasan and Snehalatha in the lead roles. Way before Friends was popular, this comedy-drama tells the story of Bhaskaran and the age old problem of the love triangle in a comical way. It is available on Youtube.  

7. Chithram (1988)

Another bone-tickling movie, Mohanlal has done an amazing job as Vishnu, a seemingly wealthy man. Directed by Priyadarshan, it has an IMDb rating of 8.7! It is streaming on Disney+Hotstar as well as Youtube.  

8. Ishtam (2001)

Way before Pyaar ka Punchnama or Sonu ki Titu ki Sweety ( I hope I got that right, sigh!) Ishtam brings to you a comedic bromance between the father-son duo. This movie stars Dileep and Navya Nair and is available on MX Player.  

9. Bangalore Days (2014)

No list is complete without a mention of this slice-of-life movie starring our beloved Fahaadh Faasil, Nazriya Nazim, Nivin Pauly and so many more of the most famous actors of this industry. This movie follows the stories of three cousins and their lives post their shift to Bangalore. A   favourite among people of all age groups, this movie is streaming on Disney+Hotstar.

10. Kerala Cafe (2009)

This is an anthology of ten stories that have a common connection with the eponymous cafe. It stars some of the greatest actors of the Malayalam industry like Mammootty, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Suresh Gopi and others. It is available on Disney+Hotstar.

That’s a wrap! These were some of the best Malayalam comedy movies everyone must watch.

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5 best Malayalam survival thrillers; From Fahadh Faasil’s Malayankunju to Tovino’s 2018

Are you craving for some more Malayalam survival thriller movies after watching Manjummel Boys? Sit back and (don’t) relax, as we take a look at 5 brilliant Malayalam survival thriller movies.

1. 2018: Everyone is a Hero (2023)

2. malayankunju (2022), 3. helen (2019).

Perhaps one of the most exciting sub-genres in the thriller space is that of survival thrillers. When done right, they are nail-biting, engrossing, exhilarating and offer an ultimate cinematic experience for the audience. It is the innate fear of every human to be trapped or stuck in unexpected situations, making survival thrillers a terrifying escape from reality.

The recently released Manjummel Boys has really upped the benchmark for survival thrillers to follow, but fret not, here are 5 equally worthy Malayalam films in the survival genre. In fact, after watching these films, you will be convinced that nobody does this better than Mollywood. 

Top 5 Malayalam Survival Thriller Movies

• Writer-Director: Jude Anthany Joseph
• Runtime: 2 hours 28 minutes
• IMDB Rating: 8.4/10
• Cast: Tovino Thomas, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Kunchako Boban, Indrans
• Genre: Thriller/Drama
• Where to Watch: Sony Liv

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• Writer: Mahesh Narayanan
• Director: Sajimon Prabhakar
• Runtime: 1 hour 54 minutes
• IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
• Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Rajisha Vijayan, Alex Alister
• Genre: Thriller
• Where to Watch: Prime Video

Based on the landslide that occurred in Idukki, Kerala, Malayankunju beautifully intertwines fiction and reality to create a gripping atmosphere. The plot follows Anikuttan, a casteist quiet technician whose life turns to hell when the cries of a supposedly lower-class newborn baby take him back to muddy, treacherous memory lanes. Malayankunju is more a battle within, than a battle outside, and is one of Fahadh’s most underrated films as well as performances. 

• Writer-Director: Mathukutty Xavier
• Runtime: 1 hour 57 minutes
• IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
• Cast: Anna Ben, Noble Babu Thomas, Alfred Kurian, Lal
• Where to Watch: Online

Helen is a spine-chilling survival drama that keeps you glued throughout its runtime. Based on certain real incidents and mostly fictionalised elements, Helen attempts to tell the survival story of an ordinary girl against impossible odds. The film features a powerful Anna Ben, who captures the fear and also the unending hope of survival.

4. Virus (2019)

• Writers: Sharfu, Suhas
• Director: Aashiq Abu
• Runtime: 2 hours 32 minutes
• Cast: Tovino Thomas, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Asif Ali
• Where to Watch: Prime Video/ZEE5

Virus, as the name suggests, revolves around the deadly Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala. It is the story of how a brave group of individuals joined forces to eliminate the epidemic, as Kerala fought to stay alive. It is an utterly realistic portrayal of the incidents that occurred during the Nipah outbreak, making it an uncomfortable yet highly satisfying watch.

5. Take Off (2017)

• Writer-Director: Mahesh Narayanan
• Runtime: 2 hours 19 minutes
• IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
• Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Kunchako Boban, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Asif Ali
• Genre: Thriller/Action
• Where to Watch: Disney + Hotstar, Jio Cinema

Based on the struggle of the Indian nurses in Iraq during 2014, Take Off is a heart-wrenching tale, executed to near-perfection by Mahesh Narayanan. The film presents the plight of the nurses, and how a clever ambassador Manoj uses his sharp thinking skills to get the girls out of Iraq alive. Take Off takes no cinematic liberties and showcases the ordeal as it is, while also delivering a gem of a cinematic experience.

ALSO READ:   Top 15 best Malayalam thriller movies on Netflix, Prime Video, and more; From Mammootty’s Kannur Squad to Fahadh Faasil’s Trance

A wannabe programmer, with a full-time passion for cinema, Pavaman writes for breakfast, reads for lunch and watches a

A wannabe programmer, with a full-time passion for cinema, Pavaman writes for breakfast, reads for lunch and watches a film for dinner. You could say his favorite type of food is South Indian but he does like exploring.

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The story is based on the events that took place in a flat during Covid-19. The story is based on the events that took place in a flat during Covid-19. The story is based on the events that took place in a flat during Covid-19.

• Sooraj Sukumar Nair
• Arun Kayamkulam
• Gopukiran Sadhasivan

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• Gopika's Father

• Satheesh(HR Manager)

• Anirudhan's Wife
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• How long is Route Map? Powered by Alexa
• December 25, 2022 (India)
• official website of production house
• Routemap on Saina Play
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• ₹10,000,000 (estimated)

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• Runtime 1 hour 30 minutes

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27 Road Trip Movies Every Traveler Needs To Watch

The road is one of the most enduring images in film history because it can be used for so many different purposes. It can mean the freedom of adventure, or adventure's inevitable dead-end. Road trips can result in meeting interesting new characters, or they can be the worst kind of isolation or even the worst kind of forced bonding. Filmmakers from all over the world are continually drawn to the road movie and specifically the road trip movie, where a simple car or bus ride can become something much more meaningful. It offers plenty of opportunity for unexpected change, and it often does so in front of beautiful, overwhelming landscapes. They'll never stop making movies about road trips because people will never stop taking them, always wanting to see the sights and maybe become a little wiser in the process.

The 27 films in this list all take their own approaches to portraying the road trip cinematically, emphasizing its best and worst tendencies and playing them for both comedy and drama. But even the worst trips taken here offer something to appreciate, sometimes deep thought about the meaning of the road and sometimes a laugh at the expense of the poor fools stuck in the car.

1. Easy Rider

One of the most iconic road trips in cinematic history was taken by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in Hopper's 1969 classic "Easy Rider." The legendary image of Fonda and Hopper riding their motorcycles while Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" plays remains people's main association with "Easy Rider." But the movie itself is more complicated than just the thrill of riding down wide-open roads. The tagline tells of a man who went looking for America and "couldn't find it anywhere," and that's a good summation of the cynical eye this takes toward the country it explores.

Fonda and Hopper encounter some friendly people in their travels, most famously Jack Nicholson in his breakout role as a drunken lawyer. They encounter just as much resistance as they do support, from people with no tolerance for their countercultural attitudes and long hair. In one scene, Nicholson tells Hopper that people are scared of him because "what you represent to them is freedom," and the film's bleak ending offers little hope that freedom can be maintained in the face of such strong opposition. But the power of the film's images of freedom and joy is still enough to keep this as one of the beloved road movies.

2. Lost in America

Despite its cynicism, "Easy Rider" inspired many Americans to go out on the road themselves, even ones who couldn't be further away from Fonda and Hopper's biker lifestyle. This is the subject of writer, director, and actor Albert Brooks's 1985 film "Lost in America," in which a middle-class yuppie couple (Brooks and Julie Hagerty) hits the road and quickly realizes they can't handle it. By the end of the trip, they've destroyed their lives and their savings, and they've rid themselves of any romantic notions about traveling America without a plan.

Brooks' directorial work is defined by bitterness and discomfort as much as by laughs, and "Lost in America" can be particularly caustic. Brooks and Hagerty sink to some miserable depths during the course of their trip, reduced to begging for the money they just lost gambling or treating each other with naked hostility. A trip to the Hoover Dam doesn't offer scenery, instead serving as a backdrop to the couple's most vicious fight. "Lost in America" is a satire of the waste and excess of the American '80s, but it's also a reminder to make sure you've carefully thought through your road trip before you embark on one. Some people aren't ready for the road, and Brooks and Hagerty learn that too late.

3. The Color Wheel

Getting stuck with someone annoying on a long road trip can be a miserable experience, so spending the entirety of the 2011 comedy "The Color Wheel" with two annoying people on a road trip can make it a tough sell. But the film's writer-director, Alex Ross Perry, has an uncommon talent for writing people who only seem to be awful and irritating so that they're both funnier and more tragic than they would be in real life. That skill serves him especially well for the two leads of "The Color Wheel," an obnoxious brother and sister (played by Perry and Carlen Altman) whose road trip through New England leads them to meet strangers and old friends who are all even more awful than they are. The scenery offers little comfort when every scene becomes a passive-aggressive argument.

"The Color Wheel" is above all else a comedy, happy to laugh at its main characters for their abysmal social skills and undisguised contempt for each other and everyone around them. But as the trip goes on and they keep meeting hostile exes and classmates, their situation starts to seem a little sad, like they've been molded into hateful jerks by the whole world around them. Their final attempt to escape the cycle of anger and venom is shocking, but it's also unexpectedly tender, because Perry respects his characters even as they embarrass themselves.

Even the awful road trip of "The Color Wheel" can't compare to the nightmare trip taken by the title character of "Zola," and hers really happened. "Zola" was adapted from the famous Twitter thread detailing a disastrous trip to Florida taken by a part-time stripper (Taylour Paige) and a woman she just met (Riley Keough). There's not much time to enjoy Florida on this trip, the scenery consists of strip malls and different men's hotel rooms, and the business Zola has been dragged into quickly spirals into exploitation and violence.

"Zola" is about very bad events in a woman's life, but like the Twitter thread, it believes those events to be hilarious above anything else. The band of fools Zola winds up with can seem dangerous, particularly Colman Domingo's ambiguously accented pimp, but mostly they're all bluster and no brains. When they encounter people who are actually dangerous, they escape by the skin of their teeth. There's tension but never fear in "Zola," and that helps to make it a wonderful comedy even once the blood starts getting shed.

5. American Honey

"Zola" isn't the only movie where Riley Keough is a uniquely awful road trip presence. There's also the 2016 drama "American Honey", where Keough enlists a young girl played by Sasha Lane into a crew of door-to-door magazine salespeople. They travel blissfully across the Midwest, and Lane falls in love with a member of the crew, played by Shia LaBeouf. But their peaceful, off-the-grid existence is threatened by Keough and the precarity of their jobs.

A common thread across many of the great American road movies is that they're not directed by Americans, with international directors often looking at American landscapes in a different way than their American counterparts who've grown up with them. English director Andrea Arnold joins that group of directors with how she films America here, pushing the colors of the landscapes to such extremes that the emotions associated with them are also heightened, whether they be romance or danger. Her beautiful imagery is accentuated by her pulsing soundtrack, which switches between big-name pop hits and obscurities that perfectly match the mood of youthful excitement and negligence that defines "American Honey."

6. Stranger Than Paradise

While road trips can be fun and exciting, they can also be tedious, especially when there's not much scenery to look at. Writer-director Jim Jarmusch expertly captured the boredom of a bad road trip in his 1984 breakthrough "Stranger Than Paradise," in which the three leads take off in search of new experiences and don't find them anywhere they look.

Two of the leads are Hungarian émigrés hoping to find more from America than they did from their home. But the America portrayed in "Stranger Than Paradise" is just the most unremarkable areas of New York, Ohio, and Florida, presented so that the camera is just as unimpressed by them as the characters are. And only the most monotonous aspects of the road trip are shown, like driving through the endless expanse of Pennsylvania or arguing about who has to sleep on the cot when they get to a motel. Despite its tedium, "Stranger Than Paradise" is a very funny study of how the myths of the road can collapse in the face of the realities of going out on the road.

7. Badlands

Not all road trips start from good intentions. The one undertaken by Kit (Martin Sheen) and Holly (Sissy Spacek) in 1973's Bonnie and Clyde story "Badlands" starts after Kit murders Holly's father and burns down their house. That's where the journey begins, and eventually Kit is responsible for much more than one murder. But there's still an innocence to young Kit and Holly's trip, where they create their own society out in the wilderness and encounter all kinds of gorgeous nature. "Badlands," writes Sheila O'Malley for Criterion , is based on the 1958 murder spree of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, but its power doesn't come from its killings so much as its troubling naivete, where the blinkered teenage attitudes of its protagonists and the pastoral beauty of their surroundings say nothing about the horrible violence occurring right in front of them.

"Badlands" was the debut of writer-director Terrence Malick, who would go on to develop a reputation for his eye for natural landscapes. That's present even this early, shooting trees and sunsets so that they appear magical more than natural. But that magic here comes with a terrible price, and Malick seems as disturbed by nature's non-reaction to the evil committed all around it as he is entranced by its power.

8. My Blueberry Nights

Wong Kar-wai has directed some of the most beloved films of all time in his native Hong Kong, but to date, he's only made one movie in the United States. That was 2007's "My Blueberry Nights," which explores the unique geography of America through a road trip starting in New York and ending in Las Vegas. Wong is renowned for his intensely stylized movies, and "My Blueberry Nights" is no exception. Wong's America is beautiful in a way it isn't in real life — only Wong's oversaturated colors and beautiful golden light could make it look this gorgeous. In this way, Wong captures the feeling of a great road trip, of falling in love with every location you pass. And Wong ties all these stunning locales to his usual themes of heartbreak and melancholy, showing beautiful places inhabited by sad, lonely people.

"My Blueberry Nights" is held back from the levels of Wong's best movies by a weak script and inconsistent performances. Otherwise talented actors like Natalie Portman and Rachel Weisz go over the top, while even strong performances from Jude Law and David Strathairn have to go against the bland lead performance from singer and first-time actor Norah Jones. But such flaws don't matter too much in light of how enchanting Wong's vision of the world is. This is the kind of movie that makes people want to keep taking road trips.

9. Alice in the Cities

Few directors are as synonymous with the road and road movies as Wim Wenders, the German director who's made several of the best-loved movies about the road ever made. His most overt takes on the road genre are the three movies that make up his "Road Trilogy," starting with "Alice in the Cities" in 1974. "Alice in the Cities" concerns German writer Philip (Rüdiger Vogler), who follows a disappointing assignment by meeting a woman (Lisa Kreuzer) and her young daughter Alice (Yella Rottländer), then agreeing to go on a trip through Amsterdam. Their trip is marked by complications, boredom, and a lot of music, including a Chuck Berry concert and a jukebox playing Canned Heat. And all the while, Philip and Alice begin to develop a friendship.

"Alice in the Cities" is one of the most lasting Wenders movies, inspiring the work of filmmakers like Allison Anders and Mike Mills, particularly Mills' own adult-and-child road movie "C'mon C'mon." "Alice in the Cities" holds special power for its tale of unexpected companionship, where the road has the magic to bring together people who never would have even met under different circumstances. Even when the sights aren't exciting, getting to experience those sights with someone new can be a rewarding experience.

10. Magic Mike XXL

The success of the male-stripper comedy "Magic Mike" left star Channing Tatum and writer Reid Carolin with the duty of following up a movie that seemed to neatly wrap up at the end. Rather than repeat the first one's formula, Tatum and Carolin decided to go in another direction, turning 2015's "Magic Mike XXL" into an exuberant road trip movie about friends and the joy of performing. "Magic Mike" was an often melancholy movie about the recession, and while there are still economic worries all over "Magic Mike XXL," they mostly take a back seat to just enjoying the chance to escape from them for a few days.

The first film's director, Steven Soderbergh, didn't return to direct "Magic Mike XXL," but he did serve as its cinematographer, and he deserves special credit for how beautiful he makes the film's Southern locations look. Even an ordinary gas station comes to life with Soderbergh's golden light, to say nothing of the beaches and palatial estates Mike and his friends visit on their journey. The beauty of these locations also represents the simple beauty of hanging out with people you love, and this is where "Magic Mike XXL" separates itself from its predecessor. Mike's fellow strippers barely had personalities in the first one, but here they're best friends who love each other's company even as they razz each other. It's a unique pleasure to go on the road with such a tight-knit group.

11. Y tu mamá también

After making 2001's "Y tu mamá también," Alfonso Cuarón stuck to making large-scale spectacles and big-budget blockbusters. But in "Y tu mamá también," Cuarón applies his usual technical excellence to a simple story of a woman and two teenage boys going on a road trip. The Mexican landscapes they drive past are beautifully shot by future Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, and their conversations are profane and hilarious, especially as delivered by Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal in their breakthrough roles. But a serious side creeps into "Y tu mamá también" as it goes on, eventually taking it over entirely.

As the three take their trip, they pass by political strife and Mexican culture soon to die out entirely. The characters may only be passing through these areas, but there are people living in the areas whose lives will be very difficult long after the leads are gone. Despite its main characters' immaturity, this is a surprisingly thoughtful road trip movie, understanding that even the most pristine locales are burdened by troubling history. That also turns out to be true about the main characters' dynamics, where the teenage leads eventually realize the depths of sadness and desperation they and their traveling partner carry with them. But before they get to that point, they have a great time, and so does the viewer watching them.

12. My Own Private Idaho

Gus Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho" opens with River Phoenix's character, Mikey Waters, saying that he's traveled so much down so many roads that he can recognize the roads just by sight. His life on the road is a beautiful but lonely one until he finds someone he can briefly share it with, a senator's son, Scott Favor ( Keanu Reeves ). Their journeys across deserted roads and rocky landscapes are sometimes silly but mostly poetic and sad, showing two young men as lost in the scenery as they are in their own lives.

Van Sant makes a lot of odd digressions in "My Own Private Idaho," including a sequence with talking erotic magazines and an entire plot loosely adapted from Shakespeare's "Henry IV" saga, writes Amy Taubin for Criterion . But the heart of the film is the relationship between Mikey and Scott, one where Mikey may be the only one of the two to realize how special and intimate it is. A heartbreaking scene at a campfire sees Mikey get tantalizingly close to professing his love to Scott and not quite doing so. While Mikey may have lived his life by the isolation of the road, he needs Scott to share that life with him, and the film offers little hope that this will happen.

13. The Straight Story

The films and TV of David Lynch are usually filled with the darkness and violence that lurk beneath the beautiful landscapes of America. But Lynch still loves those landscapes and the people who inhabit them, and never is that clearer than his only movie to get a G rating, 1999's "The Straight Story." He tells the story of a real-life road trip, where an elderly, almost blind farmer named Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) drove a lawn mower from Iowa to Wisconsin to see his ailing brother (Harry Dean Stanton).

There's not much dialogue in "The Straight Story," especially for the long stretches where Alvin is on his own out on the road, but it's not necessary when Lynch is working with the wide-open expanses of the midwest. He finds magic in the crop dusters and near-empty roads Alvin encounters, setting the sights to a moving Angelo Badalamenti score and making them even more powerful. And when Alvin does meet other people, their encounters are simple and touching, showing the hard lessons Alvin has learned about family over the course of a long, difficult life.

Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin made their directorial debuts in February 2022 with "Dog," which followed the "Magic Mike XXL" model of a road trip encountering lesser-known sections of American life. "Dog" is a sadder movie than "Magic Mike XXL" because the trip's ultimate destination is a military funeral, and along the way, Tatum and his dog co-star must contend with the trauma they've suffered as soldiers. This makes the bond of friendship between Tatum and the dog even more important than it is in "Magic Mike XXL," as it provides both of them life-saving help when they need it the most.

The most impressive aspect of Tatum and Carolin's first directing job is how well they film the landscapes encountered over the course of the trip. They make them symbols of the beauty of everyday life without making them overly stylized. The duo learned well from Steven Soderbergh's visual excellence without merely copying it. While "Dog" has its faults, including some awkward comedy at the beginning and a too-brief attempt to deal with the racism instilled into Iraq War soldiers, the strength of Tatum and Carolin's filmmaking and storytelling suggests that they could have a good future as directors.

15. Kings of the Road

The third film in Wim Wenders' Road Trilogy, "Kings of the Road" is a three-hour opus combining two of Wenders' favorite subjects: the road and cinema. The two titular "kings" are a movie theater projector repairman (played by "Alice in the Cities" lead Rüdiger Vogler) and a depressed psychologist (Hanns Zischler), who band together on a road trip after the psychologist has experienced a life-shattering breakup. They drive across what was then the East German border, touring worn-down movie theaters so that Vogler can make repairs.

"Kings of the Road" offers even less of a plot than "Alice in the Cities" does, also offering one of the purest, simplest depictions of a road trip on film. There's no inevitable endpoint for the characters to reach, just a sprawling journey where they come to slightly better understand each other and themselves. It encompasses all the joy and melancholy of road trips in one package, people searching for more from life hoping that they'll find it behind the wheel.

16. Having a Wild Weekend

1965's "Having a Wild Weekend," also known as "Catch Us If You Can," is technically a vehicle for The Dave Clark Five, the British group that came into popularity at the same time as The Beatles . "Having a Wild Weekend" would seem to put the band in a comedy just like "A Hard Day's Night," but director John Boorman instead made a lovely, melancholy road movie, showing two people trying in vain to escape their confining lives back home.

Dave Clark plays a stuntman who takes off on a road trip with a model (Barbara Ferris) dissatisfied with her position as the face of ad campaigns for meat. On their journey, they encounter the youth who will soon become the counterculture and the old men still obsessed with the imagery of old Hollywood. Everywhere they go, Clark and Ferris are reminded of the culture they're trying to fight against, but they're powerless to stop it. The two have impressive chemistry together, but their relationship is a sad one, one that can only last the length of the road trip even though they're the only people who could possibly understand each other. Even once the remaining four Dave Clark Five members show up to do some slapstick, the tone is more elegiac than silly.

17. Wild at Heart

For a more representative David Lynch road trip movie, there's "Wild at Heart," which manages to be funny and romantic as well as frightening. Sailor and Lula, the giddy young couple played by Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, hit the road only after Lula's mother has unsuccessfully tried to kill Sailor, and on their journey they'll deal with more killers and more victims. But their love may be strong enough to keep them safe every step of the way.

The giddy energy of "Wild at Heart" is unusual for Lynch movies, which usually have a more deadpan tone. Cage and Dern are balls of energy in this, engaging in grand romantic gestures and, in Cage's case, frequently falling into Elvis impersonations. The world around them has gone mad with rage and violence, the road bringing as many terrors as beauties, and they seem to have adapted to that madness by matching it. The title doesn't lie — these are two wild kids who will let nothing, not even a horrifying figure like Willem Dafoe's psychopathic Bobby Peru, stand in the way of their love. And for all the darkness of the rest of the movie, Lynch is still kind-hearted enough to give them a happy ending.

18. Two For the Road

All the good and bad feelings associated with going on the road are present in 1967's "Two for the Road," and they also represent the ups and downs of a marriage. The good and the bad are shuffled together in a nonlinear style, where pieces of the beginning, middle, and end of Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney's characters' relationship are presented as a series of out-of-order road trips. There is some beautiful European scenery over the course of the trips, but the fractured editing means that the destinations of the trips are less important than the trips themselves, and how they function as both bonding exercises and sources of arguments.

The film's most hilarious section is when Hepburn and Finney commit the error of going on a road trip with another couple, an obnoxious American family that makes the two sure of the mistakes they don't want to make in their own relationship. But of course they end up making those mistakes, and by the end "Two for the Road" is a bittersweet movie about how difficult and tricky it is to stay close to someone, whether that means marrying them or staying with them on a long car ride.

19. Don't Come Knocking

Wim Wenders and playwright-actor Sam Shepard first collaborated on the 1984 road movie "Paris, Texas," one of the most acclaimed films in the genre. Their decades-later second collaboration was 2005's "Don't Come Knocking," another road movie that couldn't match the critical success of its predecessor. But "Don't Come Knocking" is a very good movie in its own right, finding a lot of power both in western vistas and the tragic figure passing in front of them.

Shepard wrote and stars in "Don't Come Knocking," playing a washed-up Western star who ditches the set of his new movie in favor of driving to Nevada and then Montana, where both cheap thrills and old family await him. As with Wenders' other films, he makes the western settings of "Don't Come Knocking" look incredibly beautiful, shooting casinos, small-town squares, and vast deserts with the same level of vibrant color and light. And it also shares with Wenders' other work a tremendous sadness, where Shepard has abandoned the people who need him most and has only realized this too late to do much of anything about it. This trip may not be able to redeem Shepard, but it can get him one step closer, and that's better than he's done yet.

20. Highway 61

Canadian director Bruce McDonald followed in Wim Wenders' footsteps and made his own trilogy of road movies through the 1980s and '90s. The middle film in the trilogy was 1991's "Highway 61," a joyous comedy about American rock 'n' roll. Highway 61 is the highway named in Bob Dylan's legendary "Highway 61 Revisited" album, and one of the two leads (Valerie Buhagiar) is a rock-obsessed drug dealer trying to smuggle a dead body from Canada to New Orleans. Her partner (Don McKellar) is a nervous, shy barber who prefers jazz. Their odd-couple dynamic is very charming, and it only gets more charming as the trip brings them closer together.

"Highway 61" is led not just by romance and scenic views of all of North America, but by a great soundtrack at every step of the journey, often from obscure local bands McDonald is kind enough to introduce to his audience. And there's also plenty of oddball humor, particularly with a character who may or may not be the devil (Earl Pastko) chasing the two leads. "Highway 61" doesn't have much of a reputation outside of its native Canada, but it's a blissful film that deserves more attention.

21. Get On the Bus

One of the least commonly filmed ways of going on a road trip is taking the bus, perhaps because getting stuck with many unfamiliar people is not the most romantic way to see the country. But Spike Lee found a lot of drama, comedy, and political relevance in a story of a bunch of guys trapped on the bus. That story is 1996's "Get On the Bus," following a group of Black men en route to the famed Million Man March. Lee believes that every one of those million men has their own story, and he fits as many of those stories as he can into one bus.

As usual with Lee, "Get On the Bus" has an impressive cast, including Ossie Davis, Charles S. Dutton, Andre Braugher, and Bernie Mac. The characters touch on social issues, including homophobia and the anti-Semitism of Million Man March leader Louis Farrakhan, but mostly they have frank and funny conversations that naturally reveal their prejudices and moral stances rather than shout them out. Lee didn't write "Get On the Bus" (that was Reggie Rock Bythewood), but it shares the perceptive dialogue and unexpected comedy of Lee's best screenplays, including his beloved "Do the Right Thing." "Get On the Bus" is a smaller movie than "Do the Right Thing," but its confined setting doesn't mean it's any less riveting.

22. Thelma & Louise

The road trip that runs through 1991's "Thelma & Louise" is most famous for where it ends, with Thelma and Louise's car in the middle of a jump off a cliff. But their journey shouldn't just be defined by its endpoint, as the entirety of "Thelma & Louise" is a rollicking ode to female friendship and the healing power of the road trip, showing it as a rare opportunity for two women to take their lives into their own hands.

A few things remain consistent throughout Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise's (Susan Sarandon)'s road trip, namely the beauty of the southwest locations as shot by director Ridley Scott and the appalling behavior of the men both women meet along the way. "Thelma & Louise" is today best-known as the breakthrough film for breakout film for Brad Pitt , but he's only one of the film's parade of awful, often violent men, including the rapist who begins the journey in the first place. With such overpowering adversity, it's no wonder Thelma and Louise are so tight-knit — they must make their bond as strong as the forces united against them. And their bond can sustain even the steepest fall from a cliff.

23. Little Miss Sunshine

"Little Miss Sunshine" was the sensation of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival (per IndieWire ), its story of a dysfunctional family trapped in a Volkswagen van on the way to a child beauty pageant in California proving irresistible to both critics and audiences. The famous images of the film, like the family chasing after the bright yellow Volkswagen, suggest the kind of quirky, Wes Anderson-inspired comedy that was all the rage in the 2000s. But like actual Wes Anderson movies , "Little Miss Sunshine" deals with real pain and hurt, trapping several very fragile people in a small space where they might all combust.

It's helped by having such a sturdy cast playing those fragile people, including Steve Carell in one of his first dramatic performances, a silent Paul Dano, an Oscar-winning Alan Arkin, and most of all an Oscar-nominated Abigail Breslin as the girl all this trouble is in service of. The movie might have collapsed into road-movie cliches without a strong presence anchoring it, and Breslin, then 10 years old, proves more than capable of being that presence.

24. Two-Lane Blacktop

The most existential of all road movies might be 1971's "Two-Lane Blacktop," where driving is the only way of life for its main characters. But they aren't driving with any destination in mind; they're driving because it's the one thing they know how to do. Car culture was a big part of the '60s and '70s, and "Two-Lane Blacktop" has a supporting part for Dennis Wilson, whose work with the Beach Boys helped to cement cars as the ultimate symbol of cool and independence. But it's not all fun for the characters of "Two-Lane Blacktop," with the emptiness of the road ahead of them also representing the emptiness of their own obsessions and personalities.

Shot on the famed Route 66, with minimal dialogue to distract from the scenery, "Two-Lane Blacktop" is not short on great shots of cars in motion. But "Two-Lane Blacktop" also decries the hollowness of making cars the centerpiece of one's life, showing that a lifestyle based solely on speed and appearance cannot be sustained. The film's most famous line is "Those satisfactions are permanent," but the pleasures prove to be a very impermanent, fleeting bliss that doesn't disguise much deeper troubles.

25. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

In addition to being one of the great road trip movies, "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" was also a breakout LGBTQ film when it was released in 1994, offering such a sunny view of its group of drag queens that it would be pointless to resist. The next year, America was already attempting its own "Priscilla" with the fellow drag-queen road movie "To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar," but it couldn't compete with the original, particularly regarding the gorgeous vistas passed by the central trio. The stunning deserts of the Australian Outback prove to be an ideal setting for a story with outrageous outfits and colors, offering a plain brown backdrop on top of which every outfit and character pops out.

Not that the characters need any help standing out, especially when they're brought to life with such exuberance and talent. Only Terence Stamp, playing the transgender matriarch of the group, was an internationally known actor at the time of the release of "Priscilla." But the film also catapulted its other two leads, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, to their stardom. Even as all three actors are now almost three decades out from "Priscilla," it remains one of their crowning achievements, as well as one of the most infectiously cheerful road movies yet made.

26. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

One of the goofiest, most enjoyable road trips ever taken on film was the one taken by Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) as he searched for his lost bike in Tim Burton's feature directorial debut "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure." Pee-Wee would later become famous for his television show, where he created his own wacky universe, but in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," he travels through the real America and finds that it's just as silly as he is. Whether visiting dive bars, Hollywood backlots, or even The Alamo, he bends every place he visits to his own indescribable wavelength.

Burton has made flashier, more expensive movies since "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," but he's rarely made anything better. His work becomes so defined by production design and special effects after this that it's a shock to see him working mostly with real locations, making the natural world ridiculous rather than creating ridiculous worlds from scratch. And the road movie proves an ideal match for his love of middle-American eccentricity, where every new character Pee-Wee meets on his travels is an oddball in their own way. This remains Burton's funniest and sweetest movie, free of the bitter edge that distinguishes many Burton movies and instead celebrating the goofiness of life.

27. Something Wild

Jonathan Demme's "Something Wild" takes a sharp turn around its midpoint, turning from a joyous road comedy to something scarier and more intense. But all of "Something Wild" is united by Demme's love of the road and of the people you can meet along the way. Sometimes those people can change your life, like how Melanie Griffith's free-spirited Lulu gets Jeff Daniels' yuppie businessman Charlie to admit that he has a wilder side than he presents to the world. And other times they can threaten that life, like Ray Liotta as Lulu's malevolent ex-husband, Ray, who resolves to force Charlie out of Lulu's life and win her back.

Even as "Something Wild" gets dark, Demme still finds something magical in every location visited, and often in places that seem perfectly ordinary. A friendly convenience-store employee, a dog on the back of a motorcycle, and a waitress singing outside of a New York greasy spoon — these details all come to vibrant life in front of Demme's camera. Few people have taken a road trip involving this many wacky, endearing characters, but the world as Demme portrays is a better, brighter place than it is in real life. It's a joy to experience a road trip in this world, even if only for two hours.

The best road trip movies of all time

Posted: February 12, 2024 | Last updated: February 12, 2024

Few things are better than a classic road trip. Sun shining, music blaring, wind in your hair, and some good friends. But since road trips aren’t exactly a thing you can schedule every day, sometimes you have to make do with watching other people go on their own epic journeys. For that, we have 20 of the best road trip movies of all time.

Nomadland (2020)

Any movie that wins three Oscars , including Best Picture and Best Director, is sure to make its way to the top of any best-of list, and that’s exactly the case here. Frances McDormand shows that even two decades after also starring in Almost Famous , she can still make one hell of a road trip movie in this story about packing up your essentials and roaming the country in search of purpose.

Road Trip (2000)

With a title that says all we need to know, Road Trip is a who’s who of stars from the teen sex comedy genre that dominated the early 2000s. The film is raunchy and hilarious, capturing that youthful energy of adventuring with your friends and having everything spiral out of control. Released in 2000, the movie feels like a send-off to the ‘90s, full of countless references and cast members that were part of iconic ‘90s productions ranging from American Pie to Rent .

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Considered by many to be the greatest Saturday Night Live spinoff film of all time, The Blues Brothers stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd road-tripping around the state looking to get their old band back together. The movie was a box-office and cult hit, eventually spawning a sequel that unfortunately failed to live up to the high bar set by the brothers.

Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

Travelling to a secluded beach on the Mexican coast may not sound like the most exciting destination, but it’s times like that where it’s important to remember the journey is always more important. A story of two teenage boys travelling with a woman in her late twenties, the film depicts jealousy and self-discovery against the backdrop of Mexico’s political turmoil. The movie was so popular, it set the record for the highest box-office opening in Mexican cinema history .

Thelma & Louise (1991)

Seen as one of the greatest feminist films of all time , Thelma & Louise is also just one of the greatest films of all time, road trip or otherwise. It portrays two best friends adventuring on the road together and quickly spiralling into crime and running from the police. The controversial film became instantly beloved by audiences everywhere, earning six Oscar nominations and winning Best Original Screenplay . In 2016, it was added to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry for its cultural significance.

Easy Rider (1969)

If you’ve ever seen a movie or show where Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” blasts as people drive off , you have Easy Rider to thank for that seminal moment. The movie was iconic for its portrayal of rising counterculture movements such as hippie culture, anti-war protests, and recreational drug use. It’s a fun movie about venturing off to New Orleans and leaving social tension behind.

Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Widely considered to be one of the greatest comedies of all time , Dumb and Dumber showcases a journey from Rhode Island to Colorado that is full of as many shenanigans as one could possibly pack into 107 minutes. The movie’s popularity has led to two sequels and even an animated television show, as people couldn’t get enough of watching these two goofballs have fun on the road together.

Death Proof (2007)

A road trip movie-turned-brutal slasher flick is about as Quentin Tarantino as anything can get, which is what makes it the perfect twist on the genre. Released in North America as Grindhouse , a double feature alongside Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror , the movie was a box-office failure that taught Tarantino a few lessons . Nevertheless, the movie has since become a cult hit, for viewers who discovered it without having to sit through a second movie.

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

Travelling from New York City to Chicago and back may not sound like the most thrilling road trip, but the Coen Brothers are capable of turning nothing into something enthralling. In classic Coen fashion , this is a movie that twists the road trip trend, instead offering a look at a down-on-his-luck folk singer trying to make ends meet rather than the hijinks and hilarity the genre usually offers.

Into the Wild (2007)

Who hasn’t found themselves disenchanted with society and debated giving away all their possessions to hitchhike across the country and live in the wilderness? Fortunately, that’s exactly the journey that Into the Wild portrays, telling the biographical story of Christopher McCandless , who met all sorts of people on his journey out to live in the Alaskan wild.

It Happened One Night (1934)

One of the first road trip movies of all time, this 1934 classic starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert is famous for its iconic ankle flaunting scene that has been parodied an endless amount of times. It’s widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever, as the rom-com is filled with endless comedic moments as the pair venture out to New York. It was also one of the last movies released before the Motion Picture Association began stricter enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code , which severely limited what films could show for nearly three decades.

Midnight Run (1988)

Robert De Niro in a New York to Los Angeles buddy comedy , need anyone say more? The film was both a critical and commercial success, spawning three made-for-TV sequels expanding on the story of various characters throughout the film. With De Niro playing a bounty hunter, the movie perfectly blends hysterical comedy with thrilling excitement and a few heavier, dark moments to keep audiences guessing.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

When Steve Martin, John Candy, and John Hughes collaborate on a movie together, the result is sure to be… well, as good as Planes, Trains and Automobiles is. The movie is about a three-day journey to Chicago between two unlikely travel companions—like if The Odd Couple happened in transit. It’s a must-watch performance for both Martin and Candy, with Roger Ebert calling the film “perfectly cast and soundly constructed.”

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

A tiny budget and an all-star cast led this movie, about travelling to a California child beauty pageant, to become one of the greatest surprise hits of all time. Little Miss Sunshine , won two Oscars , including Best Original Screenplay, and made over US$100 million on just an US$8-million budget . It’s the perfect example of how a beat-up van and a cast of weirdos can be just as engaging as a team of superheroes.

The Cannonball Run (1981)

What’s more exciting than a road trip from Connecticut to California? What about if that road trip was all part of an illegal race across the country? That’s exactly the plot of The Cannonball Run , in which an all-star cast that includes Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jackie Chan all race from coast to coast. The Cannonball Run continues to live on in road trip lore with the record having been broken countless times over the years.

National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)

The National Lampoon’s series has produced some wonderful movies, but Vacation is widely considered to be the best of them all . With John Hughes, Harold Ramis, and Chevy Chase all collaborating on this movie, it’s no surprise that it’s an endless stream of laughs with just the right amount of heartfelt moments sprinkled in.

Rain Man (1988)

Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise each give perhaps the best performance of their careers in this iconic movie. The film was a success in every sense of the word, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1988 , making over US$350 million on just a US$25-million budget , alongside winning four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Hoffman winning Best Actor. It’s a cross-country road trip about self-discovery and never underestimating people—an absolute must-watch.

Smokey and the Bandit

Burt Reynolds’ directorial debut was everything anyone could have hoped for, with his hilarious and exciting film about a bootlegger and runaway bride trying to smuggle 400 cases of beer from Texas to Atlanta. It was a massive hit , with only Star Wars outperforming this iconic 1977 film at the box office. The on-screen chemistry would even blossom into a real relationship between Reynolds and co-star Sally Field .

Almost Famous (2000)

In this semi-autobiographical story , a young Rolling Stone journalist follows around a touring rock band, getting in all sorts of hijinks along the way. Love, sex, partying, and meeting all sorts of new people make this movie a coming-of-age tale as much as a road trip movie. It’s an absolute must-watch for music lovers, and those who dream of hitting the road and partying every night.

True Romance (1993)

As if travelling from Detroit to Los Angeles wasn’t exciting enough, doing so while being chased by the mob is sure to add some excitement to the road trip. This film marks one of the rare instances of Quentin Tarantino writing the screenplay, but not directing as well, which many people credit for its success .

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