Her life is no fairy tale.

Vanessa (the excellent Reese Witherspoon) is a streetwise 16-year-old, a kid with attitude who's never been far from trouble. When her parents are hauled off to jail, the authorities have no option but to lock her up too but Vanessa has other plans and, armed with a handgun, hits the road. Forced to take a lift from a charming stranger (Kiefer Sutherland), who claims he's a child psychologist, it's not long before Vanessa opens up and begins to share the secrets of her troubled past. The pair get on fine, until Vanessa realises that she's hitched a ride with the notorious 'I-10 Killer'...