We're broke – The film "The Salt Path" shows a desperate couple on a pilgrimage to hope

"I'm off then," wrote Hape Kerkeling, slinging his backpack over his shoulder to set off on the Camino de Santiago, escaping his own burnout. Many others followed suit, lacing up their hiking boots in search of deceleration, self-reflection, and spiritual enlightenment. In cinema, the pilgrimage film even became a genre of its own, known as the "slow road movie."

In the broadest sense, this could also include "The Salt Trail" by Marianne Elliott, which adapts Raynor Winn's autobiographical bestseller of the same name. However, this one doesn't follow a pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, but rather the South West Coast Path along England's Atlantic coast.

The over 1000-kilometer-long hiking route is considered one of the most beautiful on the British Isles and leads from Minehead in Somerset along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall to Poole Harbour in Dorset.

But it's not just the route that's different; so is the motivation behind Raynor Winn (Gillian Anderson) and her husband Moth's (Jason Isaacs) journey. The two aren't hiking to take a break from their stressful, privileged city life, but out of desperation. After Moth invests too much money in a friend's business, the court orders the seizure of her assets following her bankruptcy. The two have five days to vacate the farm, which secured their modest livelihood through a little farming and renting out vacation rooms.

In a panic, the couple hides in the basement as bailiffs and police knock on the door with the eviction notice. When Raynor spots a hiking guidebook, they decide to pack their backpacks and tent and set off on the South West Coast Path. Suddenly stripped of all their possessions, it seems more sensible to keep moving than to freeze in fear.

As if that weren't enough, a few weeks earlier, Moth had been diagnosed with a rare, incurable, degenerative neurological disease that also affects the musculoskeletal system with severe bouts of pain. Nevertheless, day after day, step by step, they continue onward, while the coastal landscapes unfold around them in all their rugged splendor.

But nature is not only a comforter, but also often a fierce adversary. In a picturesque bay, they are swept away by the approaching tide in the middle of the night, barely managing to save their belongings.

As homeless and dispossessed, the hikers suddenly find themselves in a social marginalized position. The film takes a close look at what it means to live in poverty on the road. Every trip to the ATM becomes a nerve-wracking experience, as it's unclear whether the machine will actually dispense the £40 from their tax refund that the couple has left each month to live on. The only hot meals they usually get are instant noodles from the camping stove.

And when the two take refuge from the rain in a restaurant, the waiter tactfully offers them a pot of hot water, seeing that they can't afford tea from the drinks menu. The spectrum of poverty opens up in the soup kitchens, where the travelers meet other homeless people.

Like any road movie, "The Salt Trail" thrives on often bizarre interpersonal encounters. Moth is repeatedly mistaken for a well-known travel writer, which even leads to the couple being invited by London hipsters to their luxurious holiday home. They are pampered until the misunderstanding is cleared up, and they are promptly thrown out.

"The Salt Trail" isn't a film that thrives on a driving drama or clever plot twists. Along the hiking trail, a gradual development unfolds among the characters, who, despite their fundamental uncertainty, gradually find peace and experience a whole new sense of togetherness as a couple.

Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files") and Jason Isaacs ("The White Lotus") shed all their star qualities for this film, wearing their roles like well-worn hiking boots. With well-balanced, emotional understatement, they portray the long-standing intimacy of a married couple who are once again learning to rely on each other.

Without any pathetic poses, the audience gradually develops a closeness to the characters, whose resilience grows on them. The film takes a winding path out of despair and toward moments of calm, strength, acceptance, and hope. Spiritual adventurers like Hape Kerkeling can't compete with that.

“The Salt Trail,” directed by Marianne Elliott, with Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, 115 minutes, FSK 6 (opens in theaters on July 17)