The Driving Seat
2016 · 9m · UK
Directed by Phil Lowe
Tones: humorous, sensual, whimsical
One Saturday morning, a middle-aged British couple decide to make love in their car in the driveway to put a spark back in their marriage — only to find it has rather the opposite effect.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's a sex comedy that refuses the easy out—no cutaways, no winking montage, just two people trapped in automotive geometry while their desire implodes. The subversiveness isn't in the premise; it's in the patience to let the joke metastasize into something genuinely uncomfortable.
Lowe stages an intimate farce within the tightest possible frame, inheriting the confined-space tradition of theatrical comedy while asserting cinema's particular claustrophobia; the car becomes both set piece and formal constraint, elegantly resolving in the final dénouement.
The entire film hinges on the decision to keep the camera outside the car—watching them through fogged glass and steering wheel glimpses—which transforms voyeurism into empathy and makes the mechanical failure of their bodies feel both ridiculous and genuinely tender.
Reviews
Hilariously British with a sensual quirky charm The Driving Seat grabs our attention, hooks us in and leaves us wanting more and more!
Festivals
- Isle of Man Film Festival 2016, Best Comedy Short
- Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2016
- London Short Film Festival 2016