[Film Review] Nightdrive (2021)

Ever since Ida Lupino’s The Hitch-Hiker, films have taught us over the years that getting into a car with a stranger is a bad idea. Sometimes it’s the driver who’s dangerous (as in Freeway) and sometimes it’s the passenger. Over the last couple of years, this model of thriller has come right up-to-date with scenarios based on ride-sharing apps: last year, it was Stalker (entitled Blinders at festivals) and Fox Hunt Drive; now Brad Baruh and Meghan Leon bring us Night Drive. And it’s an entertaining watch, much more rewarding than it first appears.

Night Drive is the story of Russell who’s been driver for a ride-share app for about eight months (as he’s tired of repeating to chatty customers), since life took an unexpected turn. He’s a “charming as heck” everyman (AJ Bowen, You're Next, The Signal), who suffers from saying “yes” too much, accommodating to a fault. When he picks up Charlotte (Sophie Dalah, Unbroken, Dead Night), who pays big to be his passenger all night, Russell finds out what trouble this easy-going attitude can land him in. Charlotte is seemingly reckless by nature, and when one thing goes wrong after another, she either has a casual solution or doesn’t seem to care. At first, Russell is bemused by this unusual young woman, and entertained by the change of pace she brings; but where she flaunts risk, he is more concerned with consequences… none of which could have been predicted.

There’s a lovely scene early on when Russell and Charlotte share a beer and we get to know them a little: he warns her that one day she’ll look back at the moment when she “picked the path of least resistance and everything just went to shit.” In contract, Charlotte gives away very little about herself and her views on life beyond finding him interesting: everything said in their all-night conversation is a prompt for back-chat or jokes from her, some witty, some plain odd. But she’s endearing and persuasive, somewhere between mischievous and laid-back; Something Wild mixed with The Last Seduction. I’m glad I’m not in Russell’s car, but I kind of wish I was too.

Meghan Leon has written a two-person plot that zig zags as much as the arguments between this odd couple. Night Drive is pacy, unexpectedly funny in parts, oh and it’s set at Christmastime. Maybe that’s an ideal time to think about one’s personal values. Night Drive is a light-hearted romp on the surface, but with a strong underlying theme of responsibility too: Russell gets so carried along with another person’s misadventure that he reminded me of the filmmakers in Man Bites Dog once or twice; but don’t worry, this film isn’t quite so severe. Unlike those filmmakers, Russell does attempt some reason, but is met with gaslighting and manipulation. What do you do when you’re faced with a wild card, someone who cannot be reasoned with? Make some effort to do what’s right, what’s safest, or simply the easiest, the road more travelled?

Sorry, not sorry: I really enjoyed Night Drive. I enjoyed it just as much the second time, preparing for this review; watching the interplay between Russell and Charlotte, the close-ups, the neon lights, the claustrophobic tension and the daft Christmas animals. Sure certain plot elements being left unexplained, but that’s OK: they added to the mystery and the random bizarreness.

Night Drive arrives in USA theatres and digital/VOD on 6 August, and has its UK premiere at FrightFest on 26 August. Seek it out if you can.

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