Road to Nowhere is a 2010 American romance thriller film directed by Monte Hellman, written by Steven Gaydos, and starring Cliff De Young, Waylon Payne, Shannyn Sossamon, Tygh Runyan, and Dominique Swain.

A promising young filmmaker named Mitchell Haven invites Laurel Graham, an unknown actress, to play Velma Duran, a person involved in a financial scandal that made headlines, in his new film.

The director falls in love with his muse, and the sordid criminal affair on which the film is based resurfaces.

Reluctantly, Gaydos gave Sossamon his card saying, "I don't do this often, but I wonder if you or your agent would contact Monte Hellman."

[3] On a budget of under $5 million, principal photography was almost entirely in western North Carolina (where the film is also set) between July and August 2009.

Still other scenes were shot at Doc Holliday's bar in Maggie Valley, at the Fontana Dam, and at the Jackson County Airport.

[5] Jim Rowell, a Cullowhee resident got a deal with the filmmakers that allowed him to make a fuel pump repair at the airport in exchange for flying his 1966 Piper Cherokee four-passenger plane as a stuntman.

[5] Other scenes were shot in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, and in front of Michelangelo's Moses and the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome.

[5] The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian hosted a tribute to Hellman which culminated on May 14, 2011, with a special premiere screening of Road to Nowhere.

[29] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "In its masterful use of evocative imagery and music, Road to Nowhere is flawless".

[30] After an interview with Hellman, John Anderson from The New York Times said, "Road may also be as significant to the indie feature as Avatar is to the popcorn movie".