- Director: Babak Anvari
- Screenplay: William Gillies
- Cast: Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys, Megan McDonnell
- Cinematography: Kit Fraser
- Score: Lorne Balfe, Peter Adams
- Genre: Thriller
- Runtime: 80 minutes
Every parent’s worst nightmare: a panicked message from their child saying they’ve been involved in an automobile accident. This frightful scenario happens to couple Frank and Maddie (Matthew Rhys and Rosamund Pike respectively), who receive a phone call at 2am from their teenage daughter, Alice – she’s hit someone and crashed into a ditch. Maddie, a parademic suffering from PTSD, instructs Alice to perform CPR on the victim. An ambulance is on its way, she tells her parents – but with Alice in a agitated and unpredictable state, can we really believe that?
Frank and Maddie jump into their own car, burning rubber through the deserted streets to get to their daughter before the authorities can. On this one tense journey, seemingly running forever, emotions run high as the pair have differing approaches on how to deal with such impossible circumstances. It feels like a vehicle-bound play, a two-hander between Pike and Rhys, both giving solid performances.
As it’s nighttime, Babak Anvari makes great use of artificial light; the couple stop at a set of traffic lights and the red envelopes their faces to suggest a sense of danger. An added detail (witnessed on the phone lockscreen) is that this stressful incident unfolds on Hallowe’en, doubling down on the all-too-real horror of the situation.
What was grounded in reality and a believable premise takes a U-turn and enters somewhat supernatural territory towards the end, which undoes a bit of the edge-of-your-seat suspense. Definitely a ride worth taking though.
My rating: 7 / 10
SilverScreen 