In 2013, British horror, In Fear, was released. The story found a young couple trapped in a never ending loop of road after taking a wrong turn. Now comes America’s variation, Drive Back. Written by Jon Sarro and directed by Cody Ashford, Drive Back is not intentionally connected to In Fear, but the two would make for an interesting double-bill.
In Drive Back, recently engaged couple Olivia (Whit Kunschik) and Reid (Zack Gold) find themselves stuck on a nightmarish road on their way home from their engagement party. Initially intended to be a 3 ½ hour journey, the pair quickly lose track of time, and their sense of self, as the road ahead appears to be stealing their souls. Whereas with Jeremy Lovering’s In Fear the road was a never-ending circle, here it is an ever sprawling straight road that awaits the couple. As the road descends into forest land, the real nightmares begin, with Drive Back providing a much more literal highway to Hell.
Much like In Fear, the bulk of the first act tension stems from Olivia and Reid themselves. Being newly engaged, the two should be over the moon. Olivia is also pregnant, meaning that there is even more cause for celebration. However, infidelity from the past hangs over the pair, and the dark cloud expands as the journey time steadily rises. As the pair turn on one another, the viewer, as an innocent bystander, is prompted to pick a side. The warring factions each have pros and cons, but the viewing experience is vastly altered depending on whose point of view is endorsed. This tricky weaving of narrative is reminiscent of Dane Elcar’s Brightwood, another film which placed a wobbly couple into a loop of terror.
That Olivia and Reid are trapped in their car with seemingly no hope of rescue, is the perfect metaphor for how stuck they are in their relationship. As previously seen in Brightwood and In Fear, this setting provides a perfect outlet for life-changing revelations, and somehow car journeys and walks in the woods have become a great outlet for therapy for couples placed into horror scenarios. Outside of the potential toxicity of their own relationships comes threats from cloaked beings that stalk the woods. Their strangeness injects another element of fear, with their origin proving even more bizarre.
Though not quite as dread inducing as In Fear, nor as brain bendy as Brightwood, Drive Back is another intriguing entry into the burgeoning ‘broken couples that are doomed to repeat their past’ sub-genre of horror. Unlike the road that lies ahead of Olivia and Reid, Drive Back manages to be a twisty, turny tale of toxic feelings, and untold terrors.
Drive Back
Summary
With Drive Back, Cody Ashford takes a familiar story, and steers it into Hellish new directions with entertaining results.
Drive Back was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024.
