Ana Sophia Heger, drama, Edgar Damatian, John Carroll Lynch, movies, New Mexico, Nick Rowland, Odessa A’zion, reviews, Rob Yang, She Rides Shotgun, Taron Egerton
August 17, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Nick Rowland
Culture Representation: Taking place in New Mexico, the dramatic film “She Rides Shotgun” (based on the novel of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Latin people) representing the working-class, middle-class and criminal underground.
Culture Clash: A divorced father abducts his 11-year-old daughter and goes on the run with her after he finds out that they are the targets of a homicidal gang that he has recently quit.
Culture Audience: “She Rides Shotgun” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and crime thrillers where the main characters are family members.
The compelling drama “She Rides Shotgun” overcomes some predictability because of strong performances from Taron Egerton and Ana Sophia Heger, who portray an ex-gang member and his 11-year-old daughter who become fugitives. There are a few questionable action sequences, but the emotional moments between the two main characters are consistently believable. This is the type of “road trip” movie that will keep viewers on edge, even if viewers might not agree with all of the filmmakers’ choices for the story.
Directed by Nick Rowland, “She Rides Shotgun” was written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, who adapted the screenplay from Jordan Harper’s 2017 novel of the same name. The movie has a different and more realistic ending than the book. In fact, the movie’s final scene is perhaps the most poignant and will pack the most tearjerking punch for some viewers.
The movie “She Rides Shotgun” (which weas filmed on location in New Mexico, where the movie takes place) doesn’t waste time in getting to the action in the story. The movie’s opening scene shows 11-year-old Polly Huff (played by Heger) waiting for her mother Ava Huff to pick her up from Polly’s school in the city of Albuquerque. (Polly’s age in the movie is also mentioned as 9 and 10, but for the purposes of this review, Polly’s age is listed as 11, as it is in the movie’s synopsis and in the novel.
Polly is the last student waiting outside the school for someone to give her a car ride home. Instead of Ava arriving at the school, Polly’s estranged father Nathan “Nate” McClusky (played by Egerton) shows up in a beat-up-looking car (with a broken front-passenger window) and tells her to get in the car. Polly has not seen or spoken to Nate in years, but she immediately knows who he is.
Through conversations in the movie, it’s eventually revealed that Nate has been mostly absentee father since he and Ava got divorced. Polly is wary about getting into the car with Nate. “I’m out. Let’s go.” She asks him: “Are you allowed to be here?” Polly also asks if Nate has hurt her mother. Nate says no, he didn’t hurt Ava. Nate assures Polly, “You’re safe. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Nate is acting suspiciously nervous. He and Polly check into a motel room, where he cuts and dyes Polly’s brown hair and changes it to strawberry blonde. Nate teaches Polly on how to swing a baseball bat as a weapon and instructs her to use the bat to attack anyone who will want to hurt them, especially anyone she sees with a tattoo of blue lightning. Polly is confused but obedient.
But then, Polly learns the truth about why Nate has shown up in her life again and what happened to her mother. While Nate is asleep, Polly is horrified when she sees on the local TV news that her mother and stepfather—Ava Huff and Tom Huff—were found murdered in their home. (Based on Polly’s surname Huff, it’s implied that her stepfather adopted her, which is a slight change from the book, which had Polly’s last name as McClusky.)
Nate is the prime suspect in the murders, and he’s wanted by law enforcement for abducting Polly. The news report also mentions that Nate is a known member of a white supremacist gang called Blue Lightning, which has been involved in various criminal activities, including murder, assault and methamphetamine trafficking. (In the “She Rides Shotgun” book, the gang is called Aryan Steel.)
Polly goes into a panic and calls the phone number for law enforcement that she saw on the news. And it just so happens that the person who answers her phone is the lead detective on the case: John Park (played by Rob Yang) of the Albuquerque Police Department. Polly identifies herself and tells Detective Park where she and Nate are.
Polly has mixed emotions: She’s angry and her father for not telling her the truth, but she also feels loyalty to protect him from getting arrested because he’s now her only living parent. When Polly tells Nate that she reported their location to police, Nate also goes into a panic and tells her that Ava and Tom were actually murdered by members of Blue Lightning because Nate recently quit the gang, which threatened to murder Nate and all of Nate’s family members.
Now that Polly knows that she and Nate are targets to be murdered, they become a team in trying to survive and not get taken into police custody. The rest of “She Rides Shotgun” shows the often-harrowing experiences that Polly and Nate go through when they become fugitives. Along the way, they encounter several people who might help or harm them, including Nate’s ex-girlfriend Charlotte (played by Odessa A’zion), Detective Park, police officer named Mitchell King (played by Edgar Damatian), a domineering sheriff named Samuel House (played by John Carroll Lynch), and various Blue Lightning members.
Beyond the expected chase scenes and gun shootouts, “She Rides Shotgun” capably depicts the gradual trust that Polly and Nate develop for each other. Their relationship doesn’t evolve smoothly. Polly has years of resentment for Nate being a willfully absentee dad. Nate feels guilt and remorse but also defiance because he says Ava kept him from seeing Polly because of Nate’s gang’s lfestyle.
Is Nate trying to make up for lost tme with Polly? Or is he using Polly to get more sympathy from people who might help them? He’s doing both. Nate also sometimes continues to make bad choices. But the truth is that having Polly with him makes it easier for people to find them, compared to a situation where Nate would be alone. Nate’s motive to protect Polly at all costs becomes abundantly clear, which make him more likable than if he had been a fugitive for purely selfish reasons.
“She Rides Shotgun” is a well-paced movie, withplenty of action and gritty drama. Some of the movie’s flaws have to do with the villains, who are a little too cartoonish. Not enough information is given about why Nate joined ths gang, but that’s because this is a story about a man in his daughter who are caught up in the present and don’t want to be stuck in the past. Egerton and Heger are fantastic together in their “She Rides Shotgun” performances, which are the main reason to watch this imperfect but thought-provoking film.
Lionsgate released “She Rides Shotgun” in select U.S. cinemas on August 1, 2025.