Movie Review: TOW

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: March 24th, 2026 / 10:18 PM

TOW movie poster | ©2026 Roadside Attractions/Vertical

Rating: R
Stars: Rose Byrne, Dominic Sessa, Demi Lovato, Simon Rex, Elsie Fisher, Corbin Bernsen, Ariana DeBose, Octavia Spencer
Writers: Brant Boivin & Jonathan Keasey
Director: Stephanie Laing
Distributor: Roadside Attractions/Vertical
Release Date: March 20, 2026

TOW informs us up front that there are “1-3 million vehicular residents [i.e., people living in their cars and trucks] across the country on any given night.” It goes on to note that it is “inspired by a true story,” which it underscores by showing us three of the real-world principals under the closing credits. Two of these, Amanda Ogle and Kevin Eggers, are executive producers on the movie, as are several of the cast members.

We meet Amanda (as played by Rose Byrne) as she is preparing, in her ancient Toyota Camry, for a job interview. Her pink steering wheel cover speaks of femininity, while her boots suggest toughness.

After Amanda stands up for herself quietly but angrily at the end of the humiliating and unsuccessful interview, we learn a little more about her life circumstances.

Amanda adores her teen Avery (Elsie Fisher), who is living in Utah with their father and stepmother. However, Amanda can’t bring herself to admit to Avery that she’s jobless and apartmentless, with the result that Avery thinks their mom has a cool Seattle lifestyle and just doesn’t want them to visit.

Amanda goes on another job interview as an assistant at a dog grooming salon. (She has a veterinary technician license, although not a college degree.) Part of the gig is picking up and dropping off the dogs, which of course requires a car.

After the interview, the car, with everything Amanda owns, is not where she last parked it.

We then get an onscreen count, starting with Day One, as Amanda’s ordeal progresses.

The police notify Amanda that they’ve found her car, apparently stolen for a joyride. It has been recovered and is waiting for her at an impound lot.

Amanda goes to the lot, where she is informed that towing and storage costs are about $270, which she doesn’t have and has no way of obtaining.

What follows is an interesting and credible (if bizarre) legal case that illustrates not only Amanda’s tenacity and initiative, but also how the system regularly makes it just about impossible for the impoverished to improve their situations, regardless of how hard they try.

As the lot storage fees quickly mount to over $20,000, Amanda gets a sympathetic judge when she represents herself in court, but that is not nearly the end of the matter.

Amanda finally teams up with pro bono attorney Kevin (Dominic Sessa), who takes on the reprehensible corporation that owns the tow yard, represented by a consummately dismissive attorney (enacted with the right mixture of boredom and contempt by Corbin Bernsen).

Director Stephanie Laing and screenwriters Brant Boivin & Jonathan Keasey have no trouble persuading us of any of this; it all appears depressingly likely.

There is a large subplot with Amanda’s time at a church-run women’s shelter, where presumably historical liberties were taken with her peers, well-played by Ariana DeBose and Demi Lovato, among others, who all have their own troubles. Octavia Spencer makes the most of the stern but fair shelter director.

Byrne ably makes Amanda watchful, wary, hostile and vulnerable all at once. We can see where her desire to break away before someone can disappoint her hobbles her efforts, but we cheer on her tenacity and willingness to work towards her goals.

Sessa gives Kevin lifelike ambition and frustration, and Fisher plays Avery’s hurt and hope with feeling.

TOW is an uplifting specific look at an infuriating topic. It’s not an examination of a precedent-setting courtroom battle, just a singular fight for a reasonable individual outcome. Society is still constructed in a way that would sooner jail people for stealing bread than make bread more affordable. The rare victory over this is justly celebrated here.

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Fact-based drama about a low-dollar but life-altering legal battle

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