Southbound

Southbound is an anthology built from five parallel tales set along a sunburned stretch of highway in the American Southwest. Two men running from their pasts keep crossing paths with a touring band, a man trying to reach home, a brother in search of a missing sister, and a family on vacation whose plans go off the rails. Each story tightens the tension with flashes of danger and the road itself pressing in from all sides. The separate chapters are linked by mood, motif, and a shared sense that secrets corrode under pressure. The result is a creeping, ominous atmosphere rather than a conventional single narrative.

Directed by a rotating group including Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath, Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Justin Martinez, with Susan Burke credited as creator, Southbound debuted in 2015 as an independent horror anthology.

Box Office: Southbound grossed about 35,000 worldwide. The indie horror anthology released in 2015 features multiple directors and a story collection rooted in Susan Burke's concept and screenplay.

Critics generally note the film's atmosphere and interwoven structure rather than conventional scares. The desert setting becomes a character itself, amplifying fear and isolation while the stories examine consequences of past choices, miscommunication, and the fragility of families under pressure. Some viewers respond to the craft of each segment and the way the segments echo one another, while others feel the pacing drags at times. Overall the film invites reflection on how a single terrifying moment can ripple through multiple lives, revealing the costs of silence and denial.

Among horror fans, Southbound is often cited as a standout anthology that preserves each director's voice while binding the stories with a shared road bound atmosphere. Its desert premise has influenced later indie experiments and remains a touchstone in discussions of how to fuse multiple narratives.