Ryde

There's an interesting 20-minute short film buried in writer/director Brian Frank Visciglia's 2017 thriller Ryde. However, at 84 minutes, a serial killer (David Wachs) taking over a ride-share driver's car to find victims gets stuck in attempts to elongate the story with our killer's separate vignettes and lengthen the not-all-that-interesting dialogue between our other main character (Jessica Serfaty Michel) and her loser boyfriend (Ronnie Alvarez).

I'll admit, I only gave the film a look for Serfaty who most would likely be known from her modeling work, social media, or perhaps her recurring role on Days of Our Lives. She certainly looks great and carries herself well in the uncomfortable and physical sequences late in the film (but certainly isn't helped by the film's dialogue). However, if you aren't seeking out Ryde specifically for Serfaty (who is sadly off-screen for more than half the film), other than the brutality of the killer, I don't know that anything is offered to garner your attention.

If you start with the first ride of Jasmine (Serfaty) and her boyfriend (where you can easily read into their issues without the need for a number of excessive scenes covering the same ground), and come back with her getting back in the driver's car at the end of the film, you are left with a much tighter movie and a far more intriguing story which would tease and slowly build tension. Showing the man's brutal killings to other throwaway characters, in completely disconnected scenes, gives away the reveal long before Jasmine discovers whose car she's gotten into before leading into the rather obvious conclusion.

• Title: Ryde (2017)
• IMDb: link