In the wake of the modern shift to ride shares instead of the traditional taxi, there have been a string of movies created around the drivers of these vehicles. Over the last few years we’ve had buddy action movie Stuber, social media chiller Spree, demonic comedy Driven, and thriller Ride and Stalker (previously Blinders) that saw a rideshare driver become obsessed with one of their passengers. The latest film to tackle the driver and passenger format is new comedy, Night Drive. Directed by Brad Baruh and Meghan Leon (who also wrote the script), Night Drive stars AJ Bowen as rideshare driver Russell. It’s close to Christmas and after collecting the enigmatic Charlotte, played by Sophie Dalah, Russell finds himself on a one-way course to disaster following a series of unfortunate accidents.
Although clearly a burgeoning new sub-genre of movie, we’re not quite at the point of an over-saturated market where rideshare-based films are concerned. Still in its fledgling years, there are still plenty of opportunities for films within this category to stand out and differentiate themselves from their peers. Night Drive certainly does all it can to distance itself from the other films on the market, presenting itself as an odd-couple comedy, mixed with road movie thriller, and a touch of science-fiction. It’s an unconventional blend of tones and styles, but for the most part they all sit together nicely. It is a little bit of a bumpy ride in places; although there is a series of amusing incidents that push Russell and Charlotte into an ever deeper mess, Night Drive never quite asserts itself as a comedy of errors. Nor does it closely align itself with more serious approaches to fully embrace its potential thriller status, and therefore it ends up floundering someplace around the middle.
Most of Night Drive centres on the dynamic between Charlotte and Russell. Bowen and Dalah have a great chemistry and the strongest bow in Night Drive’s arsenal is their zippy back and forths. An odd couple for the modern era, their interactions are a fun distraction to the fact that there isn’t a whole lot happening for most of the film. There are plenty of mishaps that unfold, but the majority of time is spent with Russell and Charlotte talking, whether it’s about who they are, or how to best deal with the situations they find themselves in. It is around the hour mark of this eighty minute movie that Night Drive’s real identity is unveiled. This revelation seems to come completely out of left field and will leave the audience questioning how it arrived. Night Drive plods along at a steady speed and then there’s a sudden swerve onto a brand new journey. The new direction is an interesting one, but the twenty or so minutes remaining by this point is not long enough for the story to reach a fully satisfying destination.
An admirable attempt by all involved, Night Drive is a perfectly enjoyable way to whittle away eighty minutes, it just doesn’t quite have enough substance to make it anything more than that. There’s some great acting and interplay between the leads, but they can’t save the film’s format from becoming tiresome and the interesting but odd reveal is too little too late.
Night Drive
Summary
A fresh angle on the rideshare story isn’t enough to save Night Drive from becoming a fairly average film. That’s not necessarily a negative as the film is entertaining, it’s just that there are many interesting ideas buzzing around within Night Drive that would have benefited from further development to make the film really great.
Night Drive was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2021. Night Drive is released on digital 11th October 2021.
