This crazy Belgian film defies expectations and becomes a riotous, funny action film.
Noah Hazard (Dimitri ‘Vegas’ Thivaios) adores his souped-up car as much – if not more – than his wife and child. After dropping his little one off at school, he heads to pick up his brother Carlos (Jeroen Perceval), who has just been released from prison. Now boasting a face tattoo, he tells Noah they must pick up Kludde (Frank Lammers) to do a job, with Noah as the driver. The job in question involves stealing a prototype drug and the owner isn’t happy at all, and the trio only barely get away intact. What follows is an edge-of-the-seat nightmare that is as funny as it is terrifying.
H4Z4RD (the lead’s vanity plate), directed with vim by Jonas Govaerts (Cub), is filmed almost entirely from the point of view of inside the car and becomes as claustrophobic as you can imagine. It also provides the chance to experiment with some inventive shots that make the movie feel a lot bigger than it is, including the use of parking cameras and rear-view mirrors. A hallucinogenic scene when Carlos tries the drug they stole is also a highlight.
The soundtrack is full of the type of Eurodance music you’d hear pumping out of flash cars (why do those with the loudest sound systems have such bad taste in music?) but it fits the frantic pace of the story. The situations and dangers involved are equally bizarre and nightmarish but always fun. Even if you don’t relate to the characters or situation, it’s easy to be drawn into the human aspect of what’s going on and go along for a wild ride.
HAZARD is released in the US on May 10th.
