Review4x4 film review: like Phone Booth but in an SUV, high-concept thriller is a claustrophobic allegory of Argentina’s social divisions
- A thief pops the lock on an off-road vehicle, only to find he’s locked inside its bulletproof, soundproofed cabin remote-controlled by its doctor owner
- As the doctor tortures his captive, who tries every way to escape, the film inventively explores right and wrong. Too bad it loses its nerve at the end
3/5 stars
In Mariano Cohn’s super-high-concept thriller 4x4, a luxury car with a hi-tech security system becomes a microcosm for Argentina, depicted as a nation that has lost faith in local law enforcement and the justice system.
As the line grows ever thinner between the victims of crime and the perpetrators, so too do the heroes and villains of this entertaining, if ultimately uneven thriller, become less distinct.
Small-time crook Ciro (Peter Lanzani) spies a specialised 4x4 Predator off-road vehicle parked in a sleepy Buenos Aires neighbourhood, and wastes no time in popping the lock and removing the dashboard computer.
But to his horror, Ciro then discovers that he is locked inside a fully sound- and bullet-proofed car, with no way to escape. Alerted by the break-in, the car’s owner, Dr Ferrari (Dady Brieva) calls Ciro, and reveals that he can control all of his vehicle’s functions remotely.
Ferrari is furious that he is yet again the victim of a carjacking, and is determined to see Ciro pay for the crimes of the city’s underclass.