Bobby is constantly in his car, driving back and forth along the autobahn linking Vienna and Salzburg. Other people travel the same route. Bobby picks them up to help with the petrol money and talks to them along the way: the soldier questioning what it means to fight; the supermarket trainee going to visit family; the academic researching the road’s history; the queer woman about to get married. Many different paths, different accents and different stories, most of them true. As mountains and forests pass by outside, Bobby listens, but also talks about himself – his youth, ageing and his friend in a coma in Salzburg, who is the reason for all his trips.
“I’m drawn to the varied repetition of motifs. Once the rhythm is established, it brings heightened attention to detail, which was important for Bobby’s character. The reason for his travels is revealed in fragments throughout the film, with each new ride. His character develops over time through speaking and listening to his passengers, some of whom mirror him. They become possible versions of a younger Bobby and the lives he could have led.” (Sebastian Brameshuber)