Title – She Rides Shotgun (2025)

Director – Nick Rowland (Calm with Horses)

Cast – Taron Egerton, Ana Sophia Heger, Rob Yang, John Carroll Lynch

Plot – Young girl Polly Huff (Heger) is taken by her criminal father Nathan Mcclusky (Egerton) when she is earmarked for death by a violent gang, leading the two estranged figures on a cross-country road trip that will shape the rest of their lives.  

“All a father needs is a fighting chance”

Review by Eddie on 23/01/2026

A film you’d be forgiven for not knowing a lot about as it quietly made its way into a handful of cinemas around the globe before a more large-scale streaming release, She Rides Shotgun isn’t a film that sets the world on fire but thanks to two notable lead performances, including a breakout turn from rising star Ana Sophia Heger, Nick Rowland’s feature is one worth tracking down.

An adaptation of Jordan Harper’s 2017 novel of the same name, Shotgun is a familiar feeling estranged father and daughter crime thriller that finds Taron Egerton’s tattooed season criminal Nathan Mcclusky on the lamb with his young daughter Polly after Nathan’s seedy dealings with the drug world draws his family to be targeted by a group of ruthless thugs.

Sharing some similar themes and DNA with the likes of Badlands, A Perfect World, Road to Perdition and Leave No Trace, Shotgun has some hallmarks of well-liked and regarded features from both recent and more distant times but at the same time Rowland, most well-known for his work on indie drama Calm with Horses, instils his highest profile film yet with some unique sensibilities and eccentricities that ensures even as the film loses focus and momentum in highs and lows across its two hours, it can’t be accused of not providing something interesting to partake in.

Branching out over recent years from his early Kingsman fame with performances in Netflix smash Carry-On, game drama Tetris and must-watch mini-series Black Bird, Egerton is solid as the feisty and determined Nathan, anchoring the film going on around him but Shotgun really is the Heger show as the young performer does enough here to suggest she could become the next big thing in the Hollywood scene if she so desires.

A key player in the series Life in Pieces that ran from 2017-19, Heger makes a big impression here with her biggest feature film role yet and even when Shotgun as a whole veers off the rails with some over the top segments and unbelievable character actions, Heger’s Polly is a stoic and reliable component of the films success.

From a frightened schoolgirl right through to a confidently assured accomplice to her fathers plotting, Heger shows great range and versatility here, expressing a confidence and ability that is far greater than her age would suggest and if there was one major reason to track down this barely promoted offering it’s because of her, a chance for viewers to witness the early building blocks of what should be a long-standing career.

Final Say –

Flawed and often unfocused, She Rides Shotgun is far from perfect but this little film with big ambitions still has enough going for it to recommend a watch, none more so than the performance of its young actress who shows all the signs of a budding superstar in action.

3 DIY haircuts out of 5