Teenage Nola grew up living out of a van with her charismatic father, Clint; two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone. She’ll need to take the wheel for the first time learning to own her grief, her past and her new destination.
Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) was raised into an unconventional lifestyle of living out of a van, squatting in foreclosed homes and constantly being on the road with her dad Clint (Steven Ogg) with no ties to anything or anyone. She learns how to be self-sufficient by acquiring skills like fixing cars, house repairs and anything else that will earn money. Having never known her mother Cheryl (Maggie Siff), who left her when she was a baby, leaves her feeling empty and always internally searching. When her father dies on the road, she is forced to continue living alone with everything he has taught her thus far. The story takes off when her van breaks down and she has to take it to a repair shop. The owner, Miguel (Danny Trejo), tells her the repairs will cost over one thousand dollars, she does the only thing she knows how to do, which is work off her debt at his garage.
Nola proves to be very reliable and responsible and over time, Miguel takes a liking to her. He offers her to stay in the attic of his garage until her debt is paid off. She befriends a troubled girl named Blue (Jashaun St. John) who hangs outside the garage just to keep from going home to her abusive father. They become friends and Blue helps Nola do a background check to find out where her mother is staying. When Nola finally tracks her down, she finds out the hard truth that her mother never wanted children and her parents didn’t have the resources to take care of her. Her father thought it was best that he raise her on his own. Not the beautiful reunion you expect but very real and I appreciate that about this film. The movie ends with Nola returning to the garage to properly thank Miguel for all of his help, then she takes Blue to stay with her aunt who lives eight hours away. Nola continues but on the way, she meets another family who also lives out of their van and they invite her to join them in a community of others living the same lifestyle.
I thought this was a beautiful story about survival and always planting roots. Along the way, Nola does run into trouble but finds support from others and for the first time, she creates friendships and keep them. Although she travels alone, she happens to meet others just like her that will eventually become like family. Great film.
“The Short History of the Long Road” recently had its World Premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival
