What if one long ride at night turns your lifeupside down, and the hole you fell in keeps getting deeper? Vyshak's Night Drive is a story of one such car ride. The film has Anna Ben, Roshan Mathew, Indrajit Sukumaran, and Siddique in pivotal roles alongside Kalabhavan Shahjohn, Kailash, Muthumani, Renji Panicker, and Prasant.
Night Drive follows Riya, a bold journalist whose recent exclusive led to an NIA investigation on Kerala's Tourism Minister's Gold smuggling operation. She is in a relationship with her childhood friend, George, who is an Uber driver, trying to get a job abroad. On the night of her birthday, Riya and George go on a night drive to celebrate the occasion. During their drive, the couple gets into an accident. How the duo handle the consequences of the accident forms the crux of the story.
Vyshak is known for his mass movies like Pulimurugan, and such movies are what the audience would expect from the director. However, Night Drive is different from such films; for instance, Vyshak movies tend to be extremely hero centric but Night Drive focuses on more than one character. Moreover, the number of mass dialogues are at a low in this movie, which is certainly a plus.
A big credit goes to newcomer screenwriter Abhilash Pillai, who has created a moderately engaging screenplay. Even though the entire film takes place in a single night, the movie doesn't feel muchstretched—at least in the first half. Moreover, even at slower moments, you are kept at the edge of your seats to find out what happens next.
Roshan as George and Anna as Riya are brilliant as they accurately portray the desperation that their situation calls for. Indrajit as always can pull off a grey character effortlessly. Similarly, Siddique as a corrupt government official is the norm in many such movies. Prasanth's Udaippu plays the role of that comedic relief efficiently. Unfortunately, Renji Panicker's character became a mere cameo, with scenes lasting for a few minutes.
Despite its neatly written screenplay, Night Drive is not without its faults. For instance, while the first half of the film has a good pace despite an avoidable song, the second half became a bit lengthy with an unexpected twist added simply to create a mass moment towards the climax.
An entire fight sequence was avoidable and felt even forced, eventhough they were shot well. Regardless of all this, Night Drive is watchable but highly predictable thriller for the weekend.