One of the biggest changes that the past year has forced the world to grapple with is the loss of freedom to move about freely outdoors. The new indie film Stop And Go tackles this aspect of the pandemic in a comedic manner. A product of Sorø Films Production in partnership with BuzzFeed Studios, the official synopsis for Stop And Go, previously titled Recovery, can be read below.

"Sisters Blake and Jamie's big plans for the year come to a screeching halt when they are forced to rescue their grandmother and her beloved dog from her nursing home, before their reckless sister can get there first. They embark on a hilarious cross-country race against time while contending with a deranged dog breeder, a highly inappropriate 9-year-old, and a clueless Romeo, all in the name of family."

The movie stars Mallory Everton and Whitney Call in the lead as two sisters who are forced to take a cross-country road trip to get to their grandmother in the middle of the raging pandemic. Followers of internet comedy will best remember Everton and Call as part of the immensely successful sketch comedy show Studio C.

After Mallory Everton and Whitney Call departed from Studio C with most of the original cast, they set up shop at a new YouTube channel, JK! Studios, where they continued to produce short sketches through most of 2020. The trailer for Stop And Go also features appearances by other Studio C alums including Stephen Meek, who co-directed the movie alongside Everton, and Jeremy Warner, who shows up briefly as a creepy bystander.

The trailer for the film relies heavily on the crackling chemistry between Everton and Call since a lot of the story appears to take place between their two characters alone on the road together. It is also made repeatedly clear that the dangers of the pandemic will play a big role in ratcheting up the drama as the two sisters are shown freaking out whenever they see a possible source of germs from unmasked folks.

We also see other, more traditional tropes of road trip movies, from attempting to start a reluctant car engine and trying to find good music to play for the trip, to searching for a secluded place to relieve themselves in the absence of a restroom.

Despite the comic tone of the film, there is also an undercurrent of melancholy as Blake and Jamie make their way across deserted roads to try to get to their grandmother before she is affected by a COVID outbreak at her nursing home. The slightly melancholic air interspersed between the movie's humorous scenes is summed up quite well by the trailer's tagline, "take the best road trip of the worst year."

Stop And Go made its world premiere at this year's SXSW, and will be coming both to theaters and on-demand on October 1. Apart from co-directing and co-starring in the movie, Everton also served as co-writer on the screenplay alongside Stephen Meek. The film was produced by Scott Christopherson, Abi Nielson Hunsaker, Babetta Kelly, and Meek, with Brenna Empey in charge of cinematography.