The Road to Empire (2007)

Charlie runs a successful aviation company, but some of his success has come from turning a blind eye to cargo that may not be legal. When a regular client offers him a deal - no questions asked - Charlie thinks it will be his biggest score yet. However, he will soon learn that this deal will have consequences that go beyond anything he could have imagined. This edge-of-your-seat mystery and political allegory reminds us that sometimes our supposed protectors can be the ones most dangerous in our lives. It follows newlyweds Charlie and Katherine as they go on a road trip from Houston, Texas to a little town in northern California called Empire, ostensibly, and as far as Katherine knows, to visit Charlie's father who maintains a farm up there. Charlie, however, has set up this cover story to conceal one of his smuggling operations. As the trip turns ever more perilous, Katherine begins to suspect her husband and demands the truth. But Charlie refuses to be forthright and instead tells her one lie after another to keep her in the dark. She finally decides to uncover the truth on her own, and what she finds out proves to be of far-reaching consequences.