Being a Dead Man

         Back in the Mojave desert while Vera was napping in the passenger seat. Al had wondered how he'd get rid of Haskell's car and get back to normal life with Sue. Imagining his reunion he said to himself "This nightmare of being a dead man would be over" ...... and precisely on the word "nightmare" Vera's eyes already aimed at Al's face behind her eyelids, suddenly open, and she stares at him like a devil. At this moment Al's life turns into a nightmare beyond his previous imagining. With it's horror story and it's downbeat ending Detour is not trying to comfort anyone. It wants it's audience to feel the logical impact of the anti-social current it senses in postwar life. Al Roberts may be living a nightmare, but there was still time for Americans to reverse course and recover the social harmony they were quickly losing.

Daniel R. Kieckhefer
The Cinematograph.com
2023
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