Road to Paloma

Jason Momoa's directorial debut is a spare, sunbaked road thriller that he also co-wrote and stars in. The film follows Robert Wolf (Momoa), a Native American man who has just avenged his mother's rape and murder on the Fort Mojave Reservation. Carrying her ashes, he takes to the open road on his motorcycle, heading for the Teton mountains to scatter them at a sacred site. Along the way he meets Cash Guirgis (Robert Homer Mollohan), a divorced musician also traveling west, and the two form an unlikely friendship as the FBI closes in.

Shot in just eighteen days on a budget of $600,000, the film was part-funded by WWE Studios and features Momoa's then-wife Lisa Bonet as Wolf's sister Magdalena. The supporting cast includes Wes Studi as an elder and Lance Henriksen as one of the pursuing FBI agents. The landscapes of the American West, from reservation lands to Wyoming's peaks, are central to the film's atmosphere.

Released in limited theaters in April 2014, the film earned only $2,191 at the box office but has since found a second life on streaming platforms. Momoa has said he made the movie to draw attention to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and the failures of law enforcement on tribal lands. [edit]

Robert Wolf, a stoic and deeply wounded man from the Fort Mojave Reservation, commits an act of vengeance against the man who raped and murdered his mother. With the FBI now tracking him, Wolf takes to the open road on his motorcycle, carrying his mother's ashes. His destination is a sacred site in the Teton mountains where he intends to complete burial rites according to Native tradition.

Early in his journey, Wolf crosses paths with Cash Guirgis, a struggling musician reeling from a recent divorce who is also traveling on his own motorcycle. Cash is talkative and free-spirited, a sharp contrast to Wolf's quiet intensity. The two form an unlikely bond, with Cash unaware that Wolf is a fugitive. Their road trip takes them through desolate landscapes, small towns, and reservation lands, where they encounter a series of characters: Eva (Sarah Shahi), a woman at a bar who briefly connects with Wolf; Hazel (Kelly Noonan), a waitress; and Todd (Tye Alexander), a local who crosses them.

Wolf reconnects with his sister Magdalena (Lisa Bonet), who lives on the reservation and urges him to find peace rather than continue on a path of violence. An elder named Numay (Wes Studi) imparts wisdom about Native traditions and the importance of ceremony, grounding Wolf's journey in cultural meaning. Meanwhile, FBI Agents Williams (Timothy V. Murphy) and Kelly (Lance Henriksen) track Wolf across state lines, tightening the net around him.

The narrative balances tense near-capture moments with quieter, reflective scenes exploring themes of brotherhood, justice, and cultural identity. As Wolf and Cash push toward the Tetons, the authorities close in, and Wolf must confront whether he will find redemption or capture before reaching his destination.[edit]