Belfast is the backdrop for this single-shot thriller, with Moe Dunford behind the wheel and a 'one last job' storyline in the tank.
He plays Budge, a want-away dealer whose final bit of business involves him getting the collateral (the first of many nods to the work of Michael Mann) to start his own body shop.
Hitting the road, the supremely confident Budge has everything in place as he phones associate after associate - until it all falls apart.
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In January, we had the great one-take restaurant drama Boiling Point, and now Nightride's cast and crew do a fine job as local champions of the all-at-once, real-time aesthetic.
They've acknowledged that the film is a mix of the car-set, Tom Hardy-starring Locke and the iconic Danish crime movie Pusher, but Nightride doesn't feel like a bad cover version. Director Stephen Fingleton (The Survivalist), writer Ben Conway and charisma-galore leading man Dunford keep you hooked on Budge's big score from the off.
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For lovers of movies that are as fluid as they are economical, Nightride tells its suspend-disbelief story in an attention-friendly hour and a half, never flagging and never breaking the speed limit either. The guessing continues right to the end. And Dunford really did all the driving - the car wasn't on the back of a truck.
The line "Time is luck" from Mann’s Miami Vice is a motif here. Settle on this film while scrolling and you'll be spending yours well.
The passenger seat awaits. Buckle up!
