My quick rating - 3.8/10. I went into Evel knowing absolutely nothing about it, which is generally how I find half the movies I watch. The other selling point was an 85-minute runtime, because sometimes you want a movie that doesn't require a long-term commitment. What could possibly go wrong with an autonomous electric vehicle, artificial intelligence, and a horror premise? Oh, right. Pretty much everything.
We begin with Kari (Athena Park) waking to the delightful sound of an alarm clock, checking stocks, and heading off for a run and workout. Making money and staying fit aren't enough to fill a morning anymore. She then heads to work, steps on a few toes, and takes over an important account. This leaves her with some paperwork to deliver, and her client offers her the opportunity to test-drive the world's most advanced autonomous vehicle. Naturally, she accepts. Because when a company tells you its car is packed with AI, you should absolutely trust it with your life. LOL.
It doesn't take long for that decision to go sideways. Kari soon finds herself trapped on an isolated highway while a malevolent force starts erasing her digital footprint and steering her towards Everett (Morgan Bedard), a billionaire predator with some decidedly unpleasant plans. Is this a high-tech heist, a revenge thriller, or a horror movie? Evel seems determined to have a little of everything, although the horror component occasionally feels like it missed the memo.
One thing I will give the film is that Park holds her own during the action sequences. She throws herself into the fight scenes and displays some decent martial arts skills. Unfortunately, the henchmen opposing her appear to have been recruited from the local branch of the Brain Donor Foundation. I appreciate a woman who can fight back, but some of these encounters require a rather generous suspension of disbelief. At a certain point, I was less concerned about Kari surviving than I was about how these goons managed to get hired in the first place.
I did enjoy the matter-of-fact delivery of David (Chris Farquhar), the AI voice, and the film gets some mileage out of its jabs at the lunacy of big-tech billionaires. There's something amusing about a movie suggesting that handing increasingly powerful technology to people with more money than common sense might not be the brightest idea. Who knew?
Despite the dodgy acting and some thoroughly ridiculous plotting, Evel has a twist that gives this otherwise rather lame thriller a little extra life. There's also a cheeky sequel tease, because apparently even mediocre cinematic experiences aren't safe from franchise ambitions.
Ultimately, Evel is dumb, lightweight entertainment that occasionally stumbles into being surprisingly funny in a gleefully dark way. It's not particularly scary, the acting won't win any awards, and it certainly isn't Shocktober-worthy. Oops.
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