In the Netflix thriller End of the Road, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges’ character Reggie finds himself in an isolated roadside motel, staring down a bag full of shrink-wrapped cash stashed near a man left for dead. Reggie grabs that bag, ignoring the lessons learned in movies like No Country for Old Men and A Simple Plan, where easy money comes with a body count.
Maybe Reggie felt the rules in that genre don’t apply since those movies were always about white people. End of the Road sets itself apart chiefly by leaning into its Black cast and crew, headlined by Queen Latifah. The movie climaxes with her announcing, “I make my own rules.”
By the time that mic drop moment comes, End of the Road has already detoured from unconvincing thriller about people doing desperate things for a bag of cartel money into territory that’s far more goofy and parodic, though that can be pleasurable in its own right. Who wouldn’t enjoy watching Queen Latifah break free from zip ties with sheer might to beat down a trailer park full of neo-Nazis?