Drive Back – Movie Review (3/5)

DRIVE BACK is a horror thriller with a mind-bending time loop plot. Well, sort of, you’ll have to watch it to get the idea. And yes, you should watch it. Read our full Drive Back movie review here!

DRIVE BACK (2024) is a mind-bending horror thriller from the producers of The Gallows. We’re working with a time loop story, but in a way that is extra loopy. If you catch my drift?!

It’s a real mindf**k and you feel for the characters, who become increasingly confused. However, be patient as all will be explained before the end. And that will come before too long as the runtime is just over 90 minutes.

Continue reading our Drive Back movie review below. Find it in select theaters and on digital from November 8, 2024.

We begin in a cabin in the woods

In Drive Back, we meet a couple at their engagement party. Reid is a comic artist, who still seems to be reluctant to grow up and take responsibility. However, that will have to change as Olivia is his pregnant fiancée.

Fatherhood tends to mean you need to put someone else first. And become an adult in key situations. At least if you want to be a good parent.

We then follow them on their trip back to the city as the party is held at his parents’ cabin in the woods. See, already at the mention of “cabin in the woods”, it feels like horror.

But the cabin itself isn’t an issue. As the title indicates, it has more to do with their drive back to the city.

The endless and increasingly weird road

In an attempt to get home faster, they follow the advice of a very strange elderly lady. She’s actually a very cool character, though everything about her screams Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

And not in a “Final Girl” kind of way, but rather in an “I’m a friend of Leatherface” sense.

Anyway, off they go on this “shortcut” as suggested by the strange lady. The road turns out to be neverending and messes with their perception of time and distance in strange ways.

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The movie Brightwood reminded me a lot of Drive Back >

Did they just start driving or have they been on the road for hours? Neither of them can be sure, but something very strange is going on. Also, they are clearly not alone on the road.

All they know for sure is that they must escape this sinister and seemingly endless road if they want to survive.

Watch Drive Back on Digital

Cody Ashford is the director of Drive Back with the screenplay written by Jon Sarro. The movie has been playing at genre film festivals like ScreamFest Horror Film Festival, Popcorn Frights Film Festival, and Nightmare In The Ozarks 2024.

When you watch this horror thriller, it’s easy to understand why it was an official selection for these film festivals. It’s a true genre treat that will mess with your mind.

WHAT’S IN A TITLE?

Drive Back could be a command or a warning, just like Don’t Come Home >

Zack Gold (The Unraveling) and Whit Kunschik (Caged) are both amazing in their respective starring roles as Reid and Olivia. If they weren’t as strong in their portrayals as they are, this story would’ve never worked.

We don’t do half ratings here at Heaven of Horror, but I feel the need to reveal that if we did, Drive Back would be at 3½. It’s stronger than most movies we give a 3 out of 5 ratings, but not quite at a 4. It is close though. Check it out!

Drive Back is in Select Theaters and On Digital from November 8, 2024.

Find it in theaters in Los Angeles: Laemmle Glendale (11/8) and in Fresno: Regal Cinemas River Park Fresno (11/7). On Digital, it’s available on Apple TV, Fandango at Home (US), Google Play (US & CA), Microsoft Movies & TV (US & CA), and Prime Video (US).

Details

Director: Cody Ashford
Writer: Jon Sarro
Cast: Zack Gold, Whit Kunschik, Tammy Kaitz, Robert Stephenson, Madonna Young Magee, Jim Tuck, Crystal Foster