Movie Review: Dashcam

It’s always risky to build a story around a main character who is intensely unlikable, but when it’s done well it can be a uniquely satisfying experience. In Dashcam, independent musician Annie Hardy plays a loose version of herself (hopefully VERY loose), who is known for livestreaming as she drives around Los Angeles improvising crudely comedic rap lyrics based on words her viewers submit via chat. She is quickly established as the sort of person who takes great pleasure in flouting rules and social norms and as such has grown tired of the increasingly strict COVID-19 restrictions in California, deciding to surprise a former bandmate named Stretch (Amer Chadha-Patel) in England.

When she breaks into his house in the middle of the night, he is indeed very surprised, though he is ultimately happy to see her again. She quickly begins to wear out her welcome though, nearly costs him his job with a food delivery app, and is on the verge of being kicked out. So she grabs his keys and phone, hops into his car, and takes off into the London night. While driving around the city, once again rapping for her meager online audience, a notification comes through Stretch’s phone for a delivery and Annie decides to accept it to eat the food herself. Upon arriving at the restaurant however, she discovers it closed. The proprietor emerges from the kitchen and instead offers to pay her a large sum of money to transport an elderly woman named Angela (Angela Enahoro) to another address, an offer that she can’t afford to pass up. Of course, this being a horror movie, things can’t be quite that simple, Angela is not what she seems, and Annie’s night is about to get much, much worse.

Annie embodies nearly every trait that the majority of people have come to loathe in our current culture. She’s rude, inconsiderate, over-opinionated, crass, and self-absorbed with an unearned air of entitlement to top it all off. And yet, she is still somehow watchable, retaining just enough of her humanity to engender at least a little audience sympathy. And she will need it, as once things take a decidedly supernatural turn they never slow down. Coming off his effective Zoom-call chiller Host, director Rob Savage proves to be more than a one-hit wonder. The tension builds relentlessly as the events unfolding around Annie become ever more extreme. Few people could survive the ringer that she is put through, but she keeps pushing forward, retaining her persona for her audience throughout (who provide some very entertaining commentary in the chat that runs in the bottom left corner). Many audience members will likewise not be able to make it through Dashcam. It isn’t any grosser than many others of its ilk, but Annie will immediately put some viewers off, and the ceaseless and chaotic assault on one’s senses that makes up most of the film’s runtime will prove too much for some. Personally, I thought it was a great if slightly flawed sophomore effort from a filmmaker who continues to be one to watch. ★★★★