Driving these days can be a nightmare. Traffic jams, aggressive and passive drivers, minor collisions, and serious life-altering car accidents are all common challenges in the 21st century. This is especially true for Annie, a musician and controversial conspiracy theorist in the horror thriller DASHCAM (2022), a must-see found footage gem that's perfect for spooky season.
Annie spends her days driving around in her car, using comments from her live stream as song lyrics. Growing tired of the COVID-19 restrictions in Los Angeles, she travels to London to visit her old bandmate and friend, Stretch. However, she ends up clashing with his girlfriend, Gemma, over her anti-mask views and her choice of headwear—a bright red MAGA hat.
After overhearing Stretch and Gemma discussing the possibility of kicking her out, Annie steals Stretch’s car and accepts a delivery request meant for him. The night then begins to spiral out of control when a restaurant owner asks her to drive a sick, elderly woman named Angela to a mysterious address.
From this point on, the movie takes a wild turn. The terror is experienced through the eyes of Annie and eventually Stretch, who catches up with Annie just as all hell breaks loose. As you try to figure out what is wrong with Angela, other real and supernatural forces complicate the journey. The shaky camera work enhances the confusion of the characters and amplifies the menacing threat that feels out of this world.
Building on the success of his previous found footage film, the acclaimed Host, which was filmed entirely through webcam videos during the pandemic, director Rob Savage decided to create a supernatural tale using dashcam footage instead. This was a bold choice, given the limitations of dashcam footage compared to webcam or handheld camera recordings. A key component of the film is the character Annie, portrayed by American musician Annie Hardy. She is known for her YouTube series called Band Car, in which she drives around Los Angeles, improvising song lyrics. This series clearly inspired the initial setup for DASHCAM.
DASHCAM is surprisingly good, despite its slow start. The character of Annie is quite unlikable, which affects how you perceive the film, especially in the beginning. Her rants and personality are reminiscent of Shawn from the horror-comedy Deadstream (2022), but Shawn isn’t as politically charged as Annie, which makes her even more off-putting. The portrayal of her character serves as a critique of the political landscape, particularly in 2021, following the pandemic. Like Shawn, Annie thrives on her livestream audience, treating them as friends, possibly because she has few real-life connections. Overall, DASHCAM offers a commentary on the isolation and cruelty of life during the pandemic years.