Last night I screened the new horror movie Ryde, the latest from Gravitas Ventures and director Brian Visciglia. The film, which arrives in select theaters September 15th follows a night in the life of Paul. He’s attractive with a charming, yet mysterious smile, wears an EMT shirt and seems like a nice guy about to get lucky. Except Paul is a complete psychopath, and when he takes the identity of a ride sharing app driver, no one with the Ryde app is safe. Companies like Uber, Lyft, and more are everywhere these days. But technically, you still never know who you’re getting into a car with, and Ryde preys upon those simple, sub conscious, yet everyday fears. The idea that your ride share driver could be a serial killer might not pop into your head very often. But after seeing this, it certainly will now. Keep reading below for the full Ryde Movie review…
Ryde gets going pretty fast. Almost as soon as we’re introduced to stranger Paul, we learn about his predilection towards killing; especially women. After he kills his eager one night stand, he tries to cover up his tracks by calling back their Ryde driver, Carl ( supposedly a friend of the girls, as the Ryde app is touted as a ride ‘from a friend’) and killing him. Once that’s done, he takes over Carl’s car, account and begins his prowl under the guise of a Ryde driver. From there, things get pretty violent. Our driver, who doesn’t say much, (like many other drivers in movies) enjoys killing; mainly women, in a variety of brutal fashions. Some of them include a swimming pool, and his foot. But while we spend a lot of time on this mysterious psychopath, we never get to learn what drives him. There doesn’t seem to be much depth behind it, yet you’re left wondering why you don’t know more.
The protagonist of the film is introduced to us from the first frame, (there by declaring herself as such), and seems to be a redeemable character. In her case, we know a bit more. Jasmine is a nurse, in a serious relationship with Marcus (why, I’m not sure as he’s awful), plus she’s newly pregnant, but doesn’t know it yet. She also has a strength about her that draws us in a bit. It seems to draw our driver to her as well. But again, the supposed connection between them is never explained nor is the underlying affection he apparently displays for her. Once their stories become more entangled, it’s clear that Jasmine is going to be a harder challenge then all the others in more ways than one.
Ryde succeeds in idea and style. The idea of a serial killer being your Uber driver is not only a great premise for a horror movie, but it brings a level of real life vulnerability. Jason, Freddy, Michael, Jigsaw, even Pennywise; these guys might be scary, but they’re also not real. But this could be, and that in of itself, is terrifying. David Wachs drives home that idea even more with another cliche that works; the good looking serial killer. He manages to intrigue us a bit, except we never get any pay off at all. In the end, the style and thought of Ryde works, but the plot and the story definitely leaves the viewer asking for a bit more. Perhaps in the sequel……
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