Having spent the last 21 years in a Californian prison for possession of marijuana, a middle-aged man named Russell Millings must find his way in a world that has changed completely since he was incarcerated in the 1990s.
The baby falls from the bed and is injured, and Russell takes her to a clinic, where Ella is taken away and he is interviewed by the police. After losing Ella, Russell travels to Casper, Wyoming, by bus, meeting a woman on the bus who invites him to join her if he ever visits Denver. In Casper, he visits his father's grave.
He visits a bank to open his father's safety deposit box, for which he has been left the key. In the box are a letter professing his father's love and valuable stamps, including a Tyrian plum. He opens a storage unit also left to him by his late father, which contains the rest of his father's stamp collection and clothes.
Russell visits Family & Child Services in Los Angeles to check up on Ella and give them an envelope containing details of a trust he has set up in her name, to be given to her on her 18th birthday. Russell leaves LA buying a ticket for a bus trip. When asked where he would like to go, he smiles at the possibilities ahead.
The film had its premiere at SXSW on March 10, 2019.[4] Shortly after, RLJE Films acquired distribution rights to the film, and released it on November 1, 2019.[5]
Critical reception
As of October 2021[update], 69% of the 32 reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes are positive, with an average of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Adopt a Highway might have done more to fill in its sparsely sketched story, but Ethan Hawke's performance is often enough to fill in the blanks."[6] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 53 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]
