Self Driver

There’s a lot of condensed scene setting packed into the first five minutes of Michael Pierro’s contribution to the 2024 Fantasia international Film Festival We see D (Nathanael Chadwick) sitting alone in a car park in a Toyota that is literally coming apart at the seams, sustaining himself on fast food, ignoring a phone call from his landlord, answering one from his partner in which is becomes evident that the internet has been cut off because he’s failed to pay a bill. She’s stuck at home with the baby, missing him and in need of a break. He can’t tell her when he’ll be home, only that he’ll do his best not to be too late. He has to get a few more jobs first. Everything depends on what the app on his phone has to offer.

In recent years there have been several films featuring Uber-style drivers trying to scratch a living. The average person doing that job in the US, where this film is set, makes around minimum wage plus a third after fuel, basic maintenance and insurance, before taking into account the cost of renting a vehicle or accounting for depreciation if they own one. It’s a tough gig, but often it’s the only thing available, and some people find dealing with an app less unpleasant than dealing with a boss. Still, there’s no getting around the fact that D is living at the sharp end of capitalism, and he’s exhausted by it, and so naturally, when a stranger suggests he sign on for a driving job where the rates are considerably higher, he is tempted. He’s not stupid. He knows it will involve illegality. But he can turn a blind eye to that, right?

The rules are strict. He’s not allowed to talk to customers; if he turns down a job, he’s done for the night; if he quits in the middle of a job, he loses all his money for the night. Naturally, the company has to have his bank details in order to make payments, and it turns out that under certain circumstances it also makes deductions – a common practice amongst employers operating outside the law. At first, though, the work doesn’t seem so bad. We’ve already seen a montage of some of his regular customers – short-tempered, rude, understandably unimpressed by the state of his car, all too often careless about making it worse – and one hopes that this film might make some viewers show a little more consideration for people in his position. By contrast, though it seems to take him a moment to cotton onto the fact that his first customer is a sex worker – unlikely to be the first he’s driven – she’s perfectly sweet, and they get along.

If there’s a flaw in the central idea it’s that a company like this would not allow drivers to select jobs based on what they’re comfortable with, given that they’re clearly having problems with retention. As a moral fable, however, the film works well enough, and likewise it functions as a thriller. D’s next passenger is a highly unstable drug dealer and although he might be able to accept the idea of that occupation as a matter of supply and demand, it’s something else to deal with the sense of personal threat involved. This, however, is a minor problem compared to what he’ll have to deal with later in the night, when he’s placed in a situation regarding which there really are no moral work-arounds or excuses available. How can he balance his duty to his partner and child with the duty he might have to strangers? Is there a point at which he will say no?

These questions may be unpleasant but they’re also fairly simple, and more is required to build a successful story. Pierro finds this in the performances and in the little details which enrich the characters. A simple pair of googly eyes attached to the dashboard above the broken air vent gives the car itself personality and thus provide somebody with whom D can share his private feelings. There is also a secondary plotline built around D’s decision to carry on working in this new, lucrative gig even though he’s exhausted, and the method he uses to try to overcome that exhaustion. This points to the additional concerns underlying the narrative. How many people in similar positions feel pressured into driving when they’re really not fit to do so safely? And how much disturbing passenger behaviour do they routinely overlook?

Overall, Self Driver still feels a little slight, but it’s well handled throughout and effectively shows off Pierro’s talent for creating tension. Chadwick creates a character whom many viewers will relate to and who is likeable enough without being overly heroic, so that we can keep believing in his potential for redemption, as well as rooting for him to survive, as the story unfolds. The wider social themes come through clearly without being overplayed and the pacing is good, holding viewer attention throughout. It’s a solid first feature with bodes well for what Pierro might achieve in the future.