Movies: Silver Star (2024) by Ruben Amar & Lola Bessis: A gritty, emotional road odyssey about redemption and rebellion

Two women, one crime, and a road to self-discovery

Silver Star (2024) is a crime-drama road film co-written and co-directed by Ruben Amar and Lola Bessis, starring Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson, Grace Van Dien, and Johnath Davis. The story follows Billie, a one-eyed African American woman recently released from prison, whose attempt to save her family from eviction spirals out of control after a botched bank robbery. She kidnaps Franny, a pregnant teenager with her own secrets, and the two embark on a dangerous and unexpected road journey across the American South.

What begins as a desperate escape turns into an unlikely bond between two women haunted by their pasts and searching for freedom in a world that has written them off. Produced by Les Films de la Fusée, Carte Blanche, and Valerie Steinberg Productions, the film premiered in March 2025 (UK) and is streaming on HBO Max. Its raw performances and poetic visuals earned it a festival nomination for narrative direction and character development.

Why to Recommend: A defiant journey about survival and solidarity

• Powerful female-driven storytelling: Silver Star gives voice to two marginalized women who find liberation not through heroism, but through their shared brokenness. Billie’s rough edges and Franny’s impulsive innocence collide in ways that challenge stereotypes of both race and gender.Their journey feels both violent and tender—a portrait of women reclaiming control in a world that exploits their pain.

• Authentic emotion and visual poetry: Directors Ruben Amar and Lola Bessis use the American landscape as a mirror of isolation and hope. Their long takes and natural lighting evoke 1970s road realism while carrying the rhythm of a modern indie drama.The film’s cinematography contrasts the vast, sunburnt highways with moments of quiet intimacy, creating a powerful emotional texture.

• Performances that burn with truth: Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson (Billie) gives a fierce, vulnerable performance that grounds the film’s intensity, while Grace Van Dien (Franny) brings fragile warmth and rebellion. Their chemistry transforms a criminal escape into an emotional pilgrimage.

Where to watch: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/silver-star (UK), https://www.justwatch.com/it/film/silver-star (Italy), https://www.justwatch.com/es/pelicula/silver-star (Spain), https://www.justwatch.com/ca/movie/silver-star (Canada)

Link IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8980622/

Link Review: https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/471584/

About movie: https://www.pulsarcontent.com/silverstar

What is the Trend Followed: The feminist outlaw road movie

Silver Star joins a modern wave of female-driven road and crime dramas that reimagine classic outlaw stories from a woman’s perspective.

• Neo-road realism: Like Nomadland and American Honey, it uses the open road as both metaphor and escape, showing how freedom can also mean exile.

• Feminist rebellion: Following Thelma & Louise and Queen & Slim, the film reframes violence and crime as acts of resistance against systemic injustice.

• Character over chaos: Instead of stylized violence, the story prioritizes psychological realism—highlighting how trauma shapes choices.

• Intersectional storytelling: Billie’s race and Franny’s pregnancy create layered stakes that reflect real social inequalities.

• Naturalistic direction: Handheld cameras and unscripted dialogue evoke authenticity, echoing the indie aesthetic of filmmakers like Chloé Zhao and Andrea Arnold.

• Redemption through connection: The road becomes a transformative space—where empathy, not victory, defines survival.

Summary: Silver Star exemplifies the “female outlaw revival” trend, using the crime-escape structure to explore identity, motherhood, and freedom beyond social labels.

Director’s Vision: A love letter to lost souls

• Humanist direction: Amar and Bessis create characters defined by contradictions—violent yet kind, guilty yet innocent—showing how love and crime can coexist in desperation.

• The poetry of brokenness: Their lens treats the American landscape as a metaphor for emotional decay and rebirth.

• Women reclaiming agency: The directors frame their protagonists not as victims, but as survivors crafting meaning out of chaos.

• Empathy as rebellion: Their vision suggests that compassion—especially between the powerless—is the ultimate act of defiance.

Themes: Redemption, motherhood, and moral grayness

• Redemption through love: Billie and Franny’s relationship reveals how guilt and forgiveness intertwine when survival forces vulnerability.

• Freedom and confinement: The open road symbolizes possibility but also exposes how the past always follows.

• The burden of womanhood: Both characters bear physical and emotional scars tied to patriarchal systems—prison, family, and motherhood.

• Racial and social injustice: Billie’s criminalization highlights structural inequality and how desperation breeds rebellion.

• Moral ambiguity: The film refuses to label its characters as heroes or villains, insisting that truth exists in contradiction.

Key Success Factors: Grit, grace, and emotional truth

• Authentic performances: Johnson and Van Dien’s chemistry drives every emotional turn, making their connection believable and raw.

• Strong visual identity: The film’s mix of handheld realism and poetic framing sets it apart from typical road dramas.

• Social consciousness: The narrative tackles class, race, and gender without preaching—through experience, not exposition.

• Emotional pacing: Its slow-burn storytelling rewards patience with deep emotional resonance.

Awards & Nominations: Recognition for direction and storytelling

Silver Star received one major nomination for Best Independent Narrative Feature on the festival circuit. Critics praised its emotional depth, direction, and the chemistry between the two leads. Its restrained yet poignant execution positioned it as one of 2024’s most thoughtful independent dramas.

Critics Reception: A soulful, slow-burning escape

• Variety: “A haunting and heartfelt take on the American outlaw myth, told through the eyes of women reclaiming their fate.”

• The Guardian: “Grace Van Dien and Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson deliver electrifying performances in this tender yet volatile road film.”

• IndieWire: “Raw, sun-bleached, and full of feeling—Silver Star turns desperation into poetry.”

• Hollywood Reporter: “A delicate balance of realism and dream. Amar and Bessis craft a film that breathes empathy through chaos.”

Summary: Critics describe Silver Star as “a feminist Bonnie and Clyde for the modern era”—intimate, poetic, and politically charged.

Reviews: Audiences connect with its emotional honesty

• IMDb Users: Viewers appreciate its sincerity and tension, praising the chemistry between Johnson and Van Dien. Some call it “beautifully slow and human,” while others wish for more action.

• Audience consensus: Many describe it as “a film that grows on you—quiet at first, then heartbreakingly powerful.”

• Overall: A divisive yet memorable indie gem that rewards emotional investment.

Summary: Viewers see Silver Star as a reflective road film about choices, chance, and the fragility of hope.

Movie Trend: The emotional outlaw journey

Silver Star redefines the American road movie by fusing crime, intimacy, and social realism. It aligns with a growing trend where journeys are no longer about escaping justice—but finding humanity within injustice. The open road becomes a stage for inner healing rather than escape.

Social Trend: Intersectional storytelling and female resilience

The film reflects a cultural moment where stories of marginalized women—formerly silenced or vilified—are told with empathy and nuance. By centering an ex-convict and a pregnant teen, Silver Star challenges notions of who deserves redemption, showing solidarity as a revolutionary act in itself.

Final Verdict: Raw, lyrical, and deeply human

Silver Star shines as a powerful, character-driven road drama that transforms a crime story into a meditation on freedom and forgiveness. With Ruben Amar and Lola Bessis’s soulful direction and Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson’s fierce performance, it delivers emotional honesty wrapped in visual poetry.Verdict: A stirring modern road tale—a story of two women rewriting their destinies on the long, lonely highway of redemption.