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6.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Beyond This Open Road remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like movies that are basically just moving photographs, you’ll love this. It’s a 1930s documentary, so don't expect a plot or someone narrating your every thought. If you get bored when people aren't talking, skip it. But if you like seeing how people actually lived—the coats, the bikes, the awkward smiles at the camera—this is a gem.
Watching Beyond This Open Road is like finding a shoebox of old film reels in your grandad's attic. It’s not trying to be a masterpiece. It’s just showing folks from a London suburb getting on their bikes and heading out for a weekend.
The pacing is… well, it’s not really pacing. It just happens. People pedal down lanes. They eat sandwiches in fields. There’s a lot of grass.
There is this one shot of a group of guys trying to fix a bicycle chain that feels like it lasts for five minutes. You can see the grease on their hands and the sheer frustration on their faces. It’s way more interesting than any staged drama.
There’s no heavy-handed message here. It’s just people happy to be away from the smog. You can almost smell the dust on the road. It reminds me a bit of the way things used to be shown in The Curtain Falls, though this feels way less like a production and more like a Sunday afternoon.
I found myself wondering if they ever made it back home, or if they just kept biking until they reached the coast. It’s that kind of movie. It makes you feel a bit lonely, but in a nice way. 🚲
It’s not as dark as The Pit, obviously. It’s just light and airy. Sometimes I think we overcomplicate what a movie should do. Maybe it should just let you sit in a field for a minute.
Anyway, watch it if you want to be quiet for twenty minutes. It’s a nice break from the loud stuff we usually watch. Just don't expect it to tell you what to think.