Arab News | Hana Alomair: ‘The horror in ‘Traveler’s Hell’ is rooted in atmosphere

RIYADH: A deserted mountain road, a stranded stranger, and a simple act of kindness that turns into a nightmare. These are the ingredients of “Traveler’s Hell,” an upcoming psychological thriller based on Osamah Almuslim’s bestselling novel and directed by award-winning Saudi filmmaker Hana Alomair.

Produced by MBC Studios and filmed entirely in the Kingdom, the adaptation stars Adwa Bader, Basil Alsole, Mohammed Ali, Shojaat Nashat and Aziz Gharbawi. 

For Alomair, adapting a novel with a devoted fanbase meant balancing their expectations with the creative possibilities. 

“The novel has an exceptionally large and devoted readership, and each reader has already developed a vivid, deeply personal world through their imagination,” Alomair told Arab News. 

So rather than reproducing the novel’s fantasy elements exactly, she chose to use magical realism, grounding supernatural events in a believable world. “This allowed me to preserve the story’s sense of wonder while making its characters and their emotional journeys more accessible to audiences,” she explained. 

The film, due in cinemas Nov. 19, follows a young woman driving alone at night who encounters a man stranded on a mountain road notorious for disappearances and deaths. Despite her unease, she offers him a ride to the nearest station. What begins as an act of kindness soon spirals into a series of terrifying events that challenge her understanding of reality. 

Themes of guilt, uncertainty and isolation run through the film, while its supernatural elements gradually blur the boundary between reality and imagination. Eschewing conventional horror movie jump scares, Alomair instead wanted the frights to emerge through psychological tension and the characters’ emotional struggles. 

“I believe fear is far more powerful when it emerges organically from the narrative than when it is imposed through familiar genre conventions,” she said. “The horror in ‘Traveler’s Hell’ is not rooted in spectacle as much as it is in atmosphere, internal conflict, and the unsettling sensation that reality itself is beginning to shift.” 

Another defining feature of the production is its use of Saudi Arabia’s landscapes. Rather than focusing on the Kingdom’s familiar desert scenery and urban skylines, the film explores green mountains, winding roads and isolated locations that take on a threatening character after dark. For the director, the landscape became an extension of the characters’ emotional experiences, with the natural surroundings contributing to the film’s mystery and sense of isolation.

“I believe audiences will encounter a side of Saudi Arabia that differs from the image they may be accustomed to seeing on screen,” Alomair said. “The landscapes are lush and green, the mountains rise dramatically, and the roads can be challenging and even intimidating. At night, these same places take on an entirely different character, becoming genuinely unsettling.” 

Although Alomair has previously co-written or written much of her work, Almuslim himself wrote the screenplay for “Traveler’s Hell.” Their collaboration involved extensive discussions about translating the novel’s literary elements into a cinematic experience while preserving its central themes. 

“We had lengthy discussions about every draft, examining the story from different angles and carefully considering the choices that would ultimately shape the film,” Alomair said. 

She described Almuslim as “receptive” to the changes required when adapting literature for the screen, adding that their shared understanding of storytelling helped shape the final result. 

The film is part of a broader partnership between MBC Studios and Almuslim, announced two years ago, to adapt several of the author’s popular literary works into film and television productions. 

As Saudi cinema continues to expand, “Traveler’s Hell” represents another step toward exploring genres that have so far received limited attention in the local film industry. For Alomair, the project is not only about bringing a bestselling novel to theaters but also about encouraging filmmakers to experience unconventional storytelling. She believes the industry’s continued development depends partly on filmmakers embracing creative risks and exploring stories beyond established genres. 

“I hope the film contributes, in its own way, to broadening the range of genres explored in Saudi cinema, particularly psychological thrillers, mysteries, and horror,” she said. “If ‘Traveler’s Hell’ helps open the door for more filmmakers to explore these possibilities, I would consider that a meaningful achievement.”