Fox Hunt Drive, 2020.
Directed by Drew Walkup.
Starring Lizzie Zerebko, Michael Olavson, Ryan Forrestal, Edward Craig and J.R Ridge.
SYNOPSIS:
A normal working night of car-sharing turns into a nightmare when a passenger armed with stolen jewels, blood-soaked clothes and a gun gets in. He has one night to get where he needs to go…and he will get there, whatever the cost.
Director Drew Walkup (in his debut) and writers Adam Armstrong and Marcus Devivo spin a nightmarish twist on an otherwise simple story of what happens when a ridesharing job goes wrong. Think of it as the worst Uber ride ever.
Lizzie Zerebko plays Alison Meyers, a young architect struggling when work dries up in an otherwise lucrative industry. Turning to ridesharing in the evening to make a little more money, she has the bubbly warmth and innocent smile that you’d hope for in a driver. But that warmth and innocence soon starts to fade and melt away after picking up her next – and final – passenger, played chillingly by Michael Olavson.
Olavson’s passenger has no name, but he comes across as a mix of Travis Bickle and Norman Bates. Cool, calm and collected, but ready to burst when pushed, be it by loud music or liars. In what looks inspired by minimal, claustrophobic thrillers such as Locke, Red Eye and The Hitcher, Walkup doesn’t need a big cast or fevered story. Instead he just keeps things focused on Zerebko and Olavson as the two polar opposites driving the story along and increasing the pressure gradually.
He’s a criminal out to make a handful of deals in the course of the night, and she is just trying to get home and out of trouble after a series of events brought on by their interactions attract not just the local police, but also the criminals our passenger is dealing with. What makes this engaging to watch is the relationship between Alison and her passenger. You never know what – or who – is ever in control, or making the other tick. They seem to share some subtle things in common, but you can’t be sure why. This is a film focusing on conversation and character development that adds to the tension underlying it all.
As the film goes on and the body count slowly rises, both our leads lose more and more of their initial composure in nice little details. Their hair and general appearance becomes more tussled scene by scene as events spiral out of their control. It’s a silly thing to notice, but just one of those things you do that adds to the overall look and feel to the film about how control is everything, and when it’s lost, anyone can fight to take it back.
There’s no need for lots of action or fast-edits and shaky cam shots. No. Instead, Walkup directs a very slick and well-produced independent thriller on a respectably low budget, but with no sign of cutting corners or cheap effects. Filmed over the course of one night around the dark suburbs of Fox Hunt Drive, kudos to cinematographer Anthony C. Kuhnz for making something otherwise bleak and ordinary look fresh and vibrant with crisp diegetic colours and camera shots that bring the locations to life.
With support from actors Ryan Forrestal as the local police detective out to pin Meyers, and Edward Craig and Sam Lukowski as unsavoury types out to do even more unsavoury actions, this is your usual array of characters together for a by the book thriller. There is blood, and violence, but thankfully not over-the-top and something from a comic book. It’s raw and basic and real. With this safe genre and good direction, Fox Hunt Drive gives a good few twists that push the film forward in its short runtime in the hands of two talented and skilled leads like Zerebko and Olavson.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Chris Gelderd
