Unhinged

After a tense road exchange, a divorced mother named Rachel finds her ordinary commute spiraling into a nightmare when a nameless, enraged driver begins tailing them. What starts as a moment of frustration becomes a relentless pursuit through traffic, as Rachel tries to protect her son Kyle from a man who seems to improvise a cruel plan to teach her a deadly lesson. The stalker uses proximity and manipulation to force a dangerous game, turning everyday streets into a pressure cooker. With every stoplight and corner, the danger intensifies while Rachel must decide how far she will go to outsmart a killer who will not give up. As the chase tightens, the city closes in and private fears surface tonight.

Directed by Derrick Borte and written as an original screenplay by Carl Ellsworth, Unhinged arrived in 2020 as a compact thriller built around a single high tension chase rather than a sprawling narrative that keeps the audience on edge throughout.

With a budget of 33,000,000, the film grossed 39,238,300 worldwide, marking a modest but solid return for a tense standalone thriller. Crowe's imposing screen presence shines, helping the film punch above its modest footprint, and his intensity elevates the experience.

Unhinged sparked conversations about road rage and the fragility of safety in urban life, fueling discussions in press and online. Crowe's ferocious performance lingered in viewers' minds, turning a routine drive into a stark reminder that ordinary settings can become perilous under the wrong influence.

Critics offered mixed responses to the premise and pacing. Some praised setup and Crowe's intensity, while others found the scenario hard to buy or repetitive. The film probes fear and control and the consequences of impulsive hostility in modern life, and it questions how spaces can magnify danger for family.