“Curve” (2015)
“Curve” (2015)
Curve (2015) is a horror-thriller film directed by Iain Softley and written by Kimberly Lofstrom Johnson and Lee Patterson. Produced under Blumhouse Productions, the movie stars Julianne Hough as Mallory Rutledge, a bride-to-be who becomes trapped in a life-threatening situation while traveling to her wedding rehearsal. The film explores themes of survival, psychological torment, and resilience.
Plot Overview
Mallory Rutledge is driving alone to Denver for her wedding rehearsal when she begins having second thoughts about her upcoming marriage. After a video call with her sister Ella, where doubts about her happiness are subtly raised, Mallory impulsively decides to take a detour to visit the Grand Canyon. However, her truck breaks down on an isolated road with no cell service. While stranded, she encounters Christian Laughton (played by Teddy Sears), a seemingly helpful drifter who offers to fix her vehicle.
Out of guilt for leaving him behind after he helps restart her truck, Mallory offers Christian a ride. During their drive, Christian’s demeanor shifts from charming to unsettling as he begins making inappropriate comments. When he crudely propositions her sexually and pulls out a knife, it becomes clear that he is dangerous. In an attempt to escape him, Mallory notices that Christian is not wearing his seatbelt and deliberately crashes the truck off the road near a curve.
Survival Struggle
The crash leaves Mallory trapped in the overturned vehicle with her leg pinned under debris. Christian survives unscathed and abandons her without offering any help. Over several days, Mallory endures extreme physical and psychological challenges while trying to free herself. She faces dehydration, hunger, and even resorts to eating a rat for sustenance and drinking her own urine for hydration.
Christian periodically returns to taunt Mallory with food and water but refuses to assist her escape. At one point, he gives her a saw—not to free herself from the wreckage but as an ultimatum: cut off her leg or die trapped.
Climactic Escape
A rainstorm eventually floods the area around the truck, loosening the debris pinning Mallory’s leg and allowing her to escape without amputation. Determined to stop Christian’s reign of terror, she tracks him down at a nearby cabin where he has taken another family hostage. In a final confrontation involving violence and psychological manipulation, Mallory manages to overpower Christian by pushing him into a bear trap after an intense struggle.
The film concludes with Mallory rescuing one of his hostages—a young girl named Katie—and walking away from the scene injured but alive.
Curve combines elements of survival horror with psychological tension as it portrays one woman’s fight against both physical entrapment and human evil.
