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Dashcam (horror film)
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Wikipedia article
'Dashcam' (stylized as 'DASHCAM') is a 2021 computer screen horror film directed by Rob Savage and written by Gemma Hurley, Savage, and Jed Shepherd. The film stars Annie Hardy, Amer Chadha-Patel, and Angela Enahoro. The entire film is shot from the perspective of either Hardy's hand-held iPhone or the dashcam in her car, as she livestreams her actions for viewers whose comments on the events are also displayed. The film is produced by Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions banner, alongside Douglas Cox, and Savage.
'Dashcam' had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September 2021, where it was named second runner up for the People's Choice Award: Midnight Madness. It was later released theatrically in the United Kingdom and the United States on 3 June 2022. The film received polarizing reviews, with praise for the scares, but criticism for its unlikable lead character.
Plot
Annie Hardy is a right-wing internet personality who live streams out of her car, making music and using her viewers' comments as lyrics. Tired of COVID-19 restrictions and homelessness in Los Angeles, Annie books a flight to London. There, she pays a visit to her former bandmate Stretch, who now works as a delivery driver, and his girlfriend Gemma's house. Although Stretch is initially pleased to reunite with Annie, Gemma quickly clashes with her over their views on COVID-19 and politics. Annie accompanies Stretch on his delivery job where she frustrates Stretch and antagonizes restaurant owners with her anti-mask views.
Returning home, a furious Gemma attacks Annie. Annie later overhears Gemma forcing Stretch to kick her out. In response, Annie steals Stretch's car and phone before deciding to take a delivery for him, intending to eat it herself. When she arrives at the restaurant, Annie is surprised to find it abandoned before she encounters the owner who offers Annie a large sum of money to transport a frail old woman named Angela to an undisclosed location. Annie reluctantly accepts the offer and begins driving with Angela while live-streaming everything to her fans. Angela defecates herself, forcing the pair to stop at a diner. While cleaning Angela, Annie is surprised to discover an Ariana Grande tattoo on her stomach. A woman soon enters the diner looking for Angela and attacks Annie. Annie fends her off and witnesses Angela exhibiting strange powers before fleeing back to the car.
Stretch, having tracked Annie down via the live stream, forces his way into the car where they are both unnerved by Angela suddenly appearing inside. As they drive away, Stretch and Annie get into an argument before pulling over. Angela vanishes and Stretch ventures into the nearby forest to find her. He soon finds her standing atop a tree and falls trying to reach her after which Angela floats to the ground. The woman who attacked Annie returns with a shotgun and attempts to kill Annie and Stretch. They escape her and return to the car with Angela. As they drive away, Annie discovers that Angela's mouth has been stapled shut. Angela rips the staples off and attempts to bite Annie, distracting Stretch who crashes into another car, killing two newlyweds inside. Angela attacks the pair, showing supernatural abilities and aggression.
Fleeing, the duo attempt to flag down a passing car for help only for the car to run over Stretch. The shotgun-wielding woman exits the car and reveals herself to be Angela's mother, attempting to track her down. She kidnaps Stretch and threatens to shoot him if Annie doesn't tell her where Angela is. Meanwhile, the livestream goes viral and a horde of viewers enter the chat. Annie attempts to drive away in the mother's car. Annie gets shot at, crashes the car, and is attacked. With the help of Stretch, Annie manages to trap the mother's arm in the steering wheel and snap it. Distraught and desperate, Angela's mother explains that she is actually 16 years old and shows a recent photo of a young Angela with the same tattoo. However, Angela appears, rips her mother's head off, and pursues Annie and Stretch.
The pair seek refuge in an abandoned fairground but Angela quickly hunts them down and kills Stretch. Annie escapes and drives away in a new car but Angela, who is chasing the car, causes it to crash. Angela breaks into the car trying to kill Annie and uses her powers to push the car into a lake. Annie traps Angela in the car and escapes. Unbeknownst to her, Angela levitates out of the water and into the sky. Annie makes her way to a remote house and makes her way inside, finding the property abandoned. As Annie celebrates her victory against Angela, she quickly realizes she's at the address she was instructed to take Angela to. Supernatural forces stop Annie from escaping and she flees, stumbling across occult symbols. Annie encounters a group of cult members who slit their throats simultaneously before being attacked by Angela. Annie uses a knife to kill Angela. At the same time, a humanoid, slug-like creature bursts out of Angela's mouth and hunts for Annie. Annie uses her keyboard to beat the creature to death. Exhausted from the night's events, Annie takes a break in a car as the livestream starts up again. As viewers enter the chat, Annie starts to rap about her experience, even breaking the fourth wall upon returning home.
Cast
* Annie Hardy as Annie
* Amer Chadha-Patel as Stretch
* Angela Enahoro as Angela
** Faith Kiggundu as young Angela
* Mogali Masuku as Angela's Mother
* James Swanton as The Parasite
* Jemma Moore as Gemma
* Caroline Ward as The Bride
* Edward Linard as The Groom
* Emma Louise Webb as Flight Attendant
* Seylan Baxter as Seylan
Release
'Dashcam' premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2021. In February 2022, Momentum Pictures purchased the distribution rights for the film.
Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 48% based on 85 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "'DASHCAM' is visually and thematically provocative, although the film's grating protagonist undercuts its effectiveness." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."
References
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