16/35
Greetings from the darkness again
Line of Events
A couple, finding their cheerful taxi driver, abducts them on a remote, haunted road, revealing disturbing motives and his true intentions. Moviegoers are used to seeing the comic side of Nick Frost in director Edgar Wright’s Cornetto trilogy. These are the three films in which Frost shares the screen with Simon Pegg: SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004), HOT FUZZ (2007), and THE WORLD’S END (2013). Fans of that series are in for a shock thanks to this Shudder film from director Bruce Goodison and screenwriter Virginia Gilbert.
It’s late at night after dinner with friends
Anne (Synnove Karlsen, “Medici,” LAST NIGHT IN SOHO) is upset and gets into a taxi, hoping to go home alone. But Patrick (Luke Norris, “Poldark”), the boyfriend she had a falling out with, joins her in the taxi so they can continue their relationship struggle. Her driver is a gregarious guy played by the aforementioned Nick Frost. She immediately dislikes Patrick (who is a jerk) and has an uncanny connection with Anne.
We spend a lot of time in the vehicle
Obviously, this is not going to be an ordinary taxi ride. For a while, neither Anne nor we, the audience, can figure out what is going on. It soon becomes clear that this driver has ill intentions, although the details are still unclear. The vintage car, which looks like a mini hearse, is a character in itself.
with Frost’s eyes in the rearview mirror
As soon as he mentions “the ghost of Maybell Hill” (or Mabel Hill, I’m not quite sure which) and the visions start to appear, we understand that this is a supernatural thriller and Anne and Patrick will need luck to escape. The extent to which the film works and keeps us engaged depends on Ms. Karlsen’s show-stopping performance, the uniqueness of the vehicle setting, and our interest in seeing Nick Frost embody such a character. The use of lighting here is also excellent…
crucial, since everything happens at night and especially inside the vehicle
When we learn that the driver thinks Anne has something she needs, it becomes a race to the “end of the road.” Airing on Shudder from November 8, 2024.