This film is currently being shown on Paramount+. I decided that I’d give it a try.

One Mile: Chapter One (2026) is a taut, gripping, and emotionally grounded survival thriller that delivers high-stakes action while never losing sight of its heart: a father’s fierce determination to protect and reconnect with his daughter. That’s the first thing that’s different about this film. It’s the first one in quite some I’ve watched with this father, daughter dynamic.

Ryan Phillippe stars as Danny Beckett, a recently retired U.S. Army Special Forces operative struggling to bridge the gap with his teenage daughter Alex (Amélie Hoeferle) after years of absence due to his military service.

What begins as an earnest college road-trip detours into nightmare territory when the pair encounters a secretive, violent off-the-grid community in the wilderness. Alex is taken, and Danny must rely on every hard-earned skill he possesses to track the kidnappers, outmaneuver them, and bring her home—alone and outnumbered.Phillippe delivers a compelling, grounded performance.

He plays Danny not as an invincible action machine but as a capable yet weary, emotionally frayed father whose protective instincts and tactical expertise feel authentic and hard-won. The early scenes establishing the strained father-daughter dynamic give the subsequent violence real weight; you root for Danny because his mission is as much about redemption and reconnection as pure survival.

Hoeferle is excellent as Alex—intelligent, resilient, and fully realized rather than a passive victim—creating genuine chemistry and tension with Phillippe that elevates the material. C. Thomas Howell brings layered intensity as Stanley Dixon, the community’s leader, portraying a man driven by his own twisted sense of protecting his people rather than cartoonish villainy.

Director Adam Davidson (known for strong television work on shows like Bosch and Deadwood) keeps the pacing lean and purposeful across the roughly 90-minute runtime. The film builds atmosphere effectively through its remote, isolating wilderness setting (shot on Vancouver Island), then shifts into sharp, practical action sequences that emphasize resourcefulness and high tension over excess spectacle. The sense of isolation and danger feels palpable, and the story balances pulse-pounding set pieces with quieter character moments that make the stakes personal.

As the first half of a two-chapter story released simultaneously, Chapter One works strongly on its own: it establishes the characters, ratchets up the conflict, and leaves you eager for the resolution without feeling incomplete or padded. It’s a satisfying, no-frills thriller in the vein of efficient modern survival-rescue films, distinguished by solid performances, a clear emotional core, and efficient storytelling.

Spoiler!

Still, the film’s ending doesn’t make much sense. He rescues her but they forget to do anything about the compound or the other women. Like even telling the police.

Four stars from me.