Cinequest Film Festival – In writer/director Sean Perry‘s Dash, rideshare driver Milly (Alexander Molina) has the worst night of his life. First, he needs to unload a huge bag of cocaine in order to pay for his mistress’ child. On top of that, he struggles to keep the various women he’s seeing from finding out about each other, including his wife. Initially, Dash has all the markings of a dark comedy before morphing into a nail-biting thriller.

The film, shot in one-take, opens with Milly getting a hand job in his wife’s car from Kalli (Audra Alexander). She’s also a drug dealer who gifts him with what he thinks is a massive bag of cocaine. Talk about seedy. He hopes to sell it to support the child he’s having with another woman, Emily (Monette Moio). They hooked up at a Dave Matthews concert eight months before the film’s narrative begins. He tries miserably to keep everything secret from his wife, Tara (Paige Grimard), who works long hours as a doctor, and, for whatever reason, allows Milly to use her car, since he can’t afford one. Milly, who chugs soda to stay awake, faces one crisis after another. The drugs and the car’s funky smells become the least of his problems. You know everything in his life will come to a head, but the film keeps you guessing as to how that will play out.

Milly’s first customers of the night provide comedic relief and include a gay thruple and phone-obsessed gen Z’ers who won’t even talk to each other and instead text, despite sitting next to each other in the backseat. Their message bubbles add levity, declaring Milly a major creeper. They sure pegged him right. However, the film takes a sharp turn when Milly picks up Jenny (Shah Granville), a drug addict suffering severe withdrawal. When he sells her a gram, things don’t go quite how he expected. This is the point where the film makes a major tonal shift and becomes a fevered thriller, set in the perilous streets of Hollywood late at night. Milly quickly unravels. Not only does he have Jenny to deal with and the effects of the drugs he sold her, but also the various text messages from the ladies in his life. Sometimes, luck runs out, and that’s exactly what unfolds in this feature.

The one-take really works for this film. It adds to the frantic pacing. Milly’s life is utter chaos, a result of his foolish actions. The constant revolving door of passengers adds to Milly’s white-knuckled anxiety. You’re never quite sure if he’s going to have a nervous breakdown at any minute. All of this builds to a high-pitched third act, a collision course a long time coming in the protagonist’s messy life. Molina does a fine enough job playing a character who should be utterly despicable. He somehow makes him a little likeable, secrets and all.

Overall, Dash is a heart-palpitating ride with a driver whose life is a disaster. He’s just one mixed up text message away from a meltdown. This makes for a gripping and fast-paced thriller where an everyman can’t exactly lock his secrets in the trunk. Buckle up. This one’s quite the ride.

7 Out of 10