Traffik follows Brea (Paula Patton), a journalist recently sidelined due to a distinct lack of immersion into her reporting. The timing could not be better when her boyfriend, John (Omar Epps), whisks her away for a lush romantic hideaway, tucked in the solace of the wilderness.

Happenstance meets tragic timing as Brea and John cross paths with a young woman seemingly pleading for help, and a conspicuous biker gang looking for trouble. After an intense encounter at a local gas station, the couple arrive at the picturesque retreat where a weekend of indulging awaits. An ill-timed visit from mutual friends (Laz Alonso and Roselyn Sanchez) proceeds a horrific development: Brea has found the desperate woman’s phone in her bag. As fate would have it, she has just arrived demanding the phone back. And she is not alone.

Traffik sets the board as any number of thrillers, as our heroes find themselves trapped in an isolated locale with a group of sadistic outlaws bent on their demise. What sets the film apart, are the very intense stakes at play for our characters amid the backdrop of sex trafficking. As tensions escalate, a tragic everyday truth emerges from beneath the fiction, and Traffik take an enthralling, yet decidedly pointed look at this modern true horror.

Traffik is pulse-pounding entertainment with an underlying message. And to elaborate on that message, as well as the film itself, is writer and director Deon Taylor. Responsible for the hit, Meet the Blacks, as well as its soon-to-be-released sequel, and the upcoming Dennis Quaid thriller, Motivated Seller, Taylor has been a filmmaker on the rise for several years. With Traffik, he veers into a complicated field of thriller meets education as our characters confront a very existential threat in today’s world: sex trafficking.  

Enjoy our exclusive interview with writer and director Deon Taylor as he discusses his new film, Traffik, releasing nationwide on April 20, 2018.