{"id":52176,"date":"2026-03-20T15:00:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T19:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=52176"},"modified":"2026-03-19T13:37:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:37:56","slug":"tow-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/20\/tow-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Tow [2026]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Tow, directed by Stephanie Laing, is the true story of Seattleite Amanda Ogle, who took on a crooked towing company over a 21k bill.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something built into a great David & Goliath story, a level of understanding and sympathy that instantly puts the audience on the side of the protagonists. For Tow, as the title suggests, is of a person with nothing taking on those with everything, the monolithic tow companies, with their shady business practices and exorbitant fees. With a mythical takedown to harken to, Your Friends and Neighbors director Stephanie Laing keeps the empathetic and all-too-relatable Tow grounded, but moving.<\/p>\n

Based on the true story, adapted to the screen by Jonathan Keasy & Brand Boivin, Tow follows Amanda Ogle. Between jobs and homes, she\u2019s living out of her car, a 1991 Toyota Camry. During a job interview, said car and home is stolen. On recovery from something not her fault, with no way to contact her to keep fees down, a tow company wants far too much money to release it, starting a year-long odyssey to get it back and reset her life. Of course, it\u2019s far more complicated; as it\u2019s a true story, that info is out there, but I suggest you let the engaging film, led by Rose Byrne<\/a>, tell it to you.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a solid and workable film. It\u2019s compassionate without becoming melodramatic. A situation we\u2019ve all been in, grumbling as we fork over too much cash for something out of our hands, or we know is a rip-off. For many of us, we\u2019re lucky we have the money. But so many don\u2019t. Not Ogle, desperately trying to make it through, to get a job, get a solid ground, and be there for her daughter (living with someone else in Utah, played by Eighth Grade<\/a>\u2019s Elsie Fisher). Though Ogle\u2019s situation is dire, it\u2019s not poverty porn. No glorification for living line of the system or wallowing in it either. However, t does make clear the disconnection of thought of those who think the poor and homeless are shiftless layabouts rather than the hardworking people that the system won\u2019t let get a leg up. The people in power say \u201cget a job\u201d, but won\u2019t give one without an address, and keep cutting helpful resources. I\u2019ll edit myself here as that starts a whole socio-economic rant, but it\u2019s an important part of the film.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In a good touch, the power isn\u2019t completely a brick wall. There\u2019s a knowing sigh of \u201cstuck in the system too\u201d in a kind deskman in Simon Rex. The villainy is distilled into a lawyer played by Corbin Bernsen that Kevin, a rookie lawyer played by Dominic Sessa, has to contend with. It\u2019s a modest film, dealing with those all caught in the loop, including Octavia Spencer<\/a>, Ariana DeBose<\/a>, and Demi Lovato. Within these folks, we have bad situations, but no wallowing in self-pity or over melodrama for the sake of emotional moments. Some connections and moments are a little forced, feeling like shortcuts to close out moments or story threads, and often folks are forgotten for long periods until showing up again. And it\u2019s perhaps shallower than it could be; there\u2019s a deeper discussion of who Ogle is and the whys of her life and choices seem just out of reach; all while meandering through the story of getting the car back; the two halves of the story leave neither side fully fleshed. But enough heart, and Bryne smooths over for the wider view.<\/p>\n

Laing actually films a Seattle movie in\u2026 gasp, SEATTLE<\/a>! As a resident of the Emerald City, it\u2019s refreshing. Stay out of Vancouver! Ahem, hometown (17 years this month, at least let\u2019s ignore the first 26) pride aside, Laing uses the location to great effect, presenting the city in a matter-of-fact, ground-up way. Not a travelogue, but a living town. It\u2019s not about flashy camera work, but the truth of the situation and the people. She lets the characters do their work to build th world and the city. Seattle is a gorgeous city, although one with a big unhoused population, and Laing doesn\u2019t shy from it. It is what it is. I appreciate the objectivity on display. And, as it likely is any other city, mentioning \u201ctowing in Seattle\u201d and you\u2019ll get a grumble and a story about a specific tow company. I know I have mine. It\u2019s been 15 years, but I\u2019m still salty a church towed me for being one inch into the yellow of their unused driveway. Grrr.<\/p>\n

Fresh from her killer Oscar-nominated performance in Mary Bronstein\u2019s If I Had Legs, I\u2019d Kick You (in any other year, not against Jessie Buckley<\/a> in Hamnet, she\u2019d have it), Rose Byrne<\/a> is just as astonishing. She plays Amanda with a heartfelt desperation of a big personality stuck in the overbearing cogs of the system. Amanda is a big, crass, and states her mind, and doesn\u2019t seem to have much of a filter, but Byrne brings a true humanity and verisimilitude. He\u2019s not a caricature, although we all know people like Amanda, someone good, honest and true, but often are their own worst enemy, who can come off as just that. There\u2019s a beautiful life in the performance.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The remainder of the cast encircling Bryne\u2019s Amanda Ogle is solid. Octavia Spencer\u2019<\/a>s tough but gold-hearted shelter head stands out. Ariana DeBose<\/a> gives a warm run of a woman dealing with addiction and missing her kids. A new favorite actor of Dominic Sessa holds court. Heh, with a big Christmas scene, this is the third Christmas thing with Sessa after The Holdovers<\/a> and Oh. What. Fun.<\/a> Demi Lavato is fine, she\u2019s trying and far from flat, and she does get to sing, but compared to the luminaries around her, she comes off as out of place.<\/p>\n

Tow will speak to anyone who has dealt with the inanities and unfairly balanced system of faceless monopolies, overcharged fees, and just the sheer bureaucracy of it all, no matter if we\u2019re living in our car like Ogle or comfortably elsewhere. Led by another fantastic performance by Rose Byrne, Tow is a good little flick about fighting abut against the man.<\/p>\n

And yeah Seattle! Boo THAT towing company. You know who you are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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