Locked movie review: Dead in the Drive

And that is not even counting the heavyweight Anthony Hopkins and the no-lightweight-himself Bill Skarsgard who tap into their chops to power all those ideas forward.

Skarsgard is Barry, a down-and-out petty criminal who is out of cash and in danger of losing any remaining credibility with his young daughter. He is counting on his old van, now in repairs, to turn a new leaf, but even that requires money. And hence it is that finding the fancy Dolus, parked in the kind of lot where it does not belong, and unlocked at that, Barry breaks in hoping to find something he can steal — and discovers he can’t get out.

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Hopkins is William, a clipped British accented wealthy doctor and owner of the car, who has jigged Dolus into a sound-proof, bullet-proof, mobile signal-jammed model of justice delivery. Barry happens to be the seventh person to break into his car, and William is determined to make a lesson of him — even if that means tasering, starving, freezing, frying him, and letting him bleed of a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

William is remote controlling the SUV, and communicating with Barry through a dashboard device, plus cameras all through the vehicle. Exhausted of all the curses and options, Barry finally gets talking to William.

As it turns out, William has a lot to say, about “scumbags like Barry”. And Barry has a massive chip on his shoulder, about “elites like William”.

Yarovesky has his finger on the political moment, you think? But no, the four credited screenwriters, working on an Argentinian film that is Locked’s inspiration, don’t want to really Piketty their brains — probably realising the thin ground on which both Barry and William stand. Hence the skimming over every big and small cultural fissure roiling the American landscape.

But, the thing is, you can’t work up feelings for Barry — Skarsgard has had too many weirdo roles, which seep into this one. Or for William, who gets barely a backstory, apart from the fact that he is from South Wales, insists his money is all his hard work, and loves classical music — a refined opposite hence to the street smarts of Barry (street smarts being a word much used and abused in Locked).

When William takes Barry for a ride through the dark underbelly of the city, still remote controlling Dolus, there is a promise, of the film finally walking its talk. As there is when Hopkins makes an appearance in person, sliding into the driver’s seat with his brand of chilly menace like second skin.

But even if Hopkins can run on fumes alone, Locked needed a steady supply of fuel, which went beyond words. Dolus, for example, is Latin for fraud.

Are you impressed yet?

Locked movie director: David Yarovesky
Locked movie cast: Bill Skarsgard, Anthony Hopkins, Ashley Cartwright
Locked movie rating: 2 stars