{"id":2955,"date":"2025-06-21T17:43:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T17:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/2955\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T17:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T17:43:09","slug":"a-dark-twist-on-app-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/2955\/","title":{"rendered":"A Dark Twist On App Driving"},"content":{"rendered":"

PLOT<\/strong>: Facing mounting expenses, a down-on-his-luck cab driver turns to a mysterious new app to make money. The question becomes not how much money he can make, but what he\u2019ll be compelled to do to make it. If you\u2019ve got nothing to lose, how far would you go?<\/p>\n

REVIEW<\/strong>: I will always be a massive proponent of Indie Horror. The horror genre is so pliable and doesn\u2019t require the larger budgets of an action film or period piece. It feels like an endless well of creativity exists because the audience is so accepting of different types of film, so long as it\u2019s horror. And if there\u2019s one common thread in modern-day society that many can relate to, it\u2019s freelance work. Whether it\u2019s Uber or DoorDash, there are an increasing number of jobs where you\u2019re \u201cyour own boss\u201d and are paid based on the amount of work that you do. Self Driver gives the standard driver app a unique horror twist. And its pretty intriguing along the way.<\/p>\n

Self Driver follows D, a rideshare driver who\u2019s down on his luck and desperate to make more money just to survive the day-to-day. Nathanael Chadwick<\/a> does a great job as D, really allowing us into his head and allowing a connection. If anything, I was a little distracted by how much he looked like Babish from Binging with Babish<\/a>. The mounting frustration of freelance chauffeuring and its complete disconnect from an actual human experience can be quite relatable. He\u2019s constantly being deducted money for things that are out of his control or just because he\u2019s trying to make a genuine connection. It certainly speaks to the walls that people put up when it comes to service workers, despite them being people too.<\/p>\n

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Things take an interesting turn when D is given access to a new app, that will pay him more, but requires him to do more sketchy things. If he doesn\u2019t obey, then he can lose it all. At one point in the story, D takes some drugs, making the film enter this \u201cWilly Wonka on the magic river\u201d stage. I always love it when a film goes out there with its visuals, and, given the mundane nature of what we\u2019re seeing in the buildup, it contrasts even more, and makes the experience all the more fulfilling. I do think that it could have gone a little further with some of the dark stuff happening in the film.<\/p>\n

Hailing from writer\/director Michael Pierro, Self Driver gives us more abstract answers about its world than anything concrete. If you want to know more about this organization that runs the car service, then this isn\u2019t the film for you. There\u2019s just enough information to color the world, but it never goes too overboard with exposition. There\u2019s a certain look that super indie films have that usually translates to low quality in other areas of the production. Self Driver certainly rides the line of being a bit cheap in its presentation, but it\u2019s always on the right side of competent. Anytime I started feeling the pacing, things would ramp up, and the story would be given another wrinkle.<\/p>\n

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Self Driver. There was a bit of a Hostel-type feel to this mysterious organization that deals in the depravity of the world, so long as you\u2019re willing to pay the price. But it also asks the question of how far are you willing to go for money? It can be a bit rough around the edges but I appreciate how much they were able to do with a limited budget. I guess 2025 is teaching me that I really love a good car thriller<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SELF DRIVER IS AVAILABLE ON VOD\/DIGITAL ON JUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

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