Self Driver (2024)

-Written by John Cajio.

Self Driver plays out like a low budget but generally compelling episode of Black Mirror. It takes some aspect of our lives that many, if not all of us, have to come to rely on and explores the seedier depths of that topic. In the case of Self Driver, ride share apps like Uber and Lyft become the topic du jour for Writer-Director Michael Pierro.

D (Nathaneal Chadwick) is a family man feeling the enormous pressures to provide for his family. Circumstances force him to turn to the “Vrmr” app to drive folks around town in order to make some cash. His increasing dissatisfaction with Vrmr, however, makes him go with a riskier alternative rideshare app, “Tonomo,”  that instantly pays out big bucks—if D is willing to do what it takes to earn those big bucks.

D is relatable but not very likeable, and was played amazingly well by Chadwick. He taps into the pathos of the struggling everyman forced to make decisions he doesn’t like, and he taps into it easily. What’s nice is that as later events in the film descend into madness, Chadwick still manages to keep D human and relatable. 

The script is a general highlight of the film. Pierro establishes a sense of familiarity and realism with the kinds of customers that D picks up on the Vrmr app, and then pivoting to a series of increasingly unhinged characters that challenge the lengths D will go to in order to get paid through the Tonomo app. The first customer, Angel, (Catt Filippov) is reasonably normal, but there’s definitely a mystique about her.  The second, known only as The Cuckoo (Christian Aldo), ratchets things up quite a bit with clearly criminal behavior, even as he philosophically expounds on free will and fate. The characters are colorful and, surprisingly, grounded—lending a credibility to them that helps support the themes of the film (such as the aforementioned, and the quite on the nose theme of free will versus fate). 

However, the ending is an unsatisfying clunker. For a film that seems to take a lot of pride in being grounded, even as things constantly take a left turn, relying on an impossible, downright magical deus ex machina to save the day is a terrible idea. I’ve spent some time contemplating whether there exists a plausible explanation for the ending, and while I’ve come up with a couple, they all also rely on deus ex machinas to see things through. 

Self Driver is a relatable film for much of its ninety minute run time, with interesting characters and strong performances (especially from its lead), but the ending is a total stinker that threatens to destroy all of the hard work put in by the first eighty minutes of the film. Self Driver mostly does not suck.

Written & Directed by Michael Pierro.

Starring Nathaneal Chadwick, Cat Filippov, Christian Aldo, Reece Presley, etc.

7/10 = WATCH IT FOR FREE (IT MOSTLY DOES NOT SUCK)