A couple leaving a fun dinner gets into a ride-share car that seemed to have come rather quickly and unexpectedly. Once in the car, they learn that its driver, Dawn, likes to film her passenger and harbors a dark side.
Written by Ryder Doupe, Dawson Doupe, and Todd Tapper, and directed by Nicholas Ryan, Dawn takes a subject we’ve seen a few times recently (DASHCAM, Spree, etc) and brings it to a minimalist form with very few people involved and more time spend with the same two passenger. This both helps and hinders the film in that it allows to get to know those passengers better, but it also sets very little in terms of backstory and in how to bring more fluidity to the story. Here the film spends the bulk of its story with the same three people with a few people here and there added for flavor and to bring in a cameo of a rather known face to horror fans. The film overall may have gained from a bit more of an expended cast and story.
Speaking of the cast, this here movie belongs to Sarah French who makes the most of her scenes and her lines. Lead Jackie Moore as the titular Dawn is not creating a character one wants to listen talk or spend time with extensively as is the case here. This may be a writing, a directing, or an acting issue, but her it definitely feels like a mix of all three. It is something that some will possibly enjoy, watching a mean character do and say things that are meant to make her dislikable, but a more nuanced character and performance may have worked better here. Playing Oliver, the fiancé to French’s character is Jared Cohn who does a great job at being dislikable very early on. This adds to the character of Dawn and makes him someone that is more difficult to care about. French also has a flawed character, but she does a much better job of selling her a someone who is mostly likable, making her the character the viewer will side with and stick with throughout the ordeal she goes through. Other cast members, besides Nicholas Brendon and Michael Paré do not get enough screen time to really have much of a chance at making an impact.
The film’s look here is courtesy of cinematography by Marcus Friedlander who does the most of the locations and the time spent in the car. This is claustrophobic work at times, but it is effective in creating an atmosphere of tension. The film mostly taking place in one car does limit things in how much the viewer gets to see. The film act does offer a bit more and this leads to having a few interesting angles thrown into the mix.
Dawn as a whole is an odd bit of film where the lead is not who the viewer will get attached to even though villains often are these days. The character is written, directed, and performed in way that makes her hard to want to follow, much less like. There is something missing here in terms of Dawn herself. That being said, the film is well shot and should be watched for Sarah French’s performance.