As criminals go, few are as petty or annoying as those bastards who think the height of rebellion is running away from a taxi without paying the fare. Chris and Luc are two such dicks (one much more so than the other), hitting the street hard and fast rather than pay their driver what he’s owed. Boy, did they choose the wrong driver. Payment is due, and not just for a trip across town.
The pair are pursued relentlessly by a taxi-driving cross between Jason Voorhees, Maniac Cop and The Punisher. It’s like Collateral if Tom Cruise’s character had been played by a hulking great slasher villain and Jamie Foxx’s character was two people and really deserved getting his head kicked in (again, one more so than the other). Set in late night Paris on a series of empty streets, Night Fare employs a chilling game of cat-and-mouse that resembles the likes of Duel and The Hitcher, backing up its ratcheting tension with a series of brutal action sequences. Jess Liaudin is excellently cast as The Driver, like Kane Hodder in his Voorhees prime.
It’s not just about the action though: there’s more to Night Fare than meets the eye, leading to a denouement that few will have seen coming. It’s a Martyrs-style left-field twist that will surely be a point of contention with most audiences, falling apart the more one thinks about it. Should it have been left in there? Probably not, but you do get a cute little Kill Bill-style anime sequence out of it, so it’s worth it for that alone.
Night Fare is impressive work, created and shot in a matter of months by a team in-between projects. The action is well-coordinated and nasty, the performances real and sympathetic. Divisive ideas and ending or not, the journey getting there is well worth every penny.
NIGHT FARE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: JULIEN SERI / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: JONATHAN HOWARD, FANNY VALETTE, JESS LIAUDIN, JONATHAN DEMURGER / RELEASE DATE: TBC
