Ever have one of those days where absolutely everything goes wrong, no matter how hard you try to steer it in the right direction? Night Drive, directed by Megan Leon and Brad Baruh, takes this concept, compacts it into a few hours in one night, then flips everything upside down. The result is a story that will take you places you couldn’t possibly predict. 

Disgruntled ride-share driver Russell (AJ Bowen), unknowingly puts himself in this situation when he picks up his next passenger – the overly outgoing, enigmatic Charlotte (Sophie Dalah). The differences between the two are apparent right away – Charlotte, the twenty-something Australian, chats it up with the quiet and somewhat annoyed Russell as if she’s known him her entire life. Despite her digs at his age and her overbearing personality, he agrees to take her on multiple stops, especially once she sweetens the pot by offering him more money. After all – a job is a job, right? A job that Russell, who is at a particularly low point in his life after losing his marriage and his high-paying gig, can’t pass up.

Her request seems simple enough – drive her to her ex’s house, park outside and wait 5 minutes while she retrieves an undisclosed item from inside. All seems to be going as planned until Charlotte bursts out of the house carrying a small suitcase and being chased by her angry ex. A confused Russell speeds away once she’s back in the car, but it’s obvious that this is too much for him. Unfortunately for our hapless protagonist, this sets in motion a series of events that will make his night go completely off the rails in the most turbulent of ways. 

For a movie just shy of 90 minutes, Night Drive manages to pack in a high-concept plot hidden under the guise of a simple story. It forces the audience to ask themselves “What would I do if I could control my own destiny?” It’s a film with multiple personalities – at some points quirky buddy comedy and at others a thrilling mystery, with a few added sprinkles of sci-fi for good measure.

At one point Russell remarks on a tattoo that Charlotte has of the phrase “this too shall pass” as a saying that “can make a sad man happy and a happy man sad.” Those words have enough impact to make anyone sit back and ponder, while also being a subtle allegory to the events that unfold throughout the evening.

For every erratic zigzag, there’s a moment of lulled character depth between the two, from good-natured banter to tense arguing that is typically only seen with those who have known each other a long time. The juxtaposition of personalities only heightens the stakes and makes the conflict of each situation that much more problematic. Night Drive flips the expected plotline completely in reverse, making the middle-aged everyman the sympathetic character and the beautiful young woman the suspicious instigator. 

Night Drive succeeds in taking the viewer on a wild and unexpected journey. Much like what Russell experiences with Charlotte, it’s best to let the movie take you where it wants to and allow the complexities of the story to guide you to those final unforeseen moments. 

8 out of 10