The plight of those working in the delivery/driver economy has been in the news a lot. E-bikes going at high speeds causing fatal car crashes, employees getting ridiculously low pay and no insurance–what was hyped as a great new job for people only a few years ago has quickly become just another late capitalist strategy for squeezing ever more labor out of workers for the least pay and no future.

“Self Driver” is an indie horror film in which a struggling uber/lyft type of driver (a fake app name is used in the film) goes through an exhaustive, frightening night when a sketchy passenger recommends him to a different service offering thousands a dollar each night. It is available on VOD/streaming services beginning Friday, June 6.

Nathanael Chadwick plays the driver (referred to as “D”), a bald guy with glasses and a hoodie, who dodges calls from his landlord and leaves leftover food in the floorboard of his Toyota. A quick montage of the irritating habits of his regular passengers prepares us for his decision to enlist in what we all know must be some kind of criminal enterprise. His first job, delivering a young prostitute with angel wings attached, is easy enough–kaching! But the subsequent ones keep getting more and more dangerous and morally troubling. He also begins to go into debt because he is penalized by turning jobs down or any hesitation.

After taking a supposed upper one driver gives him to stay awake, it turns out to be an hallucinogenic drug, resulting in a trippy visual ride. Director Michael Pierro does a great job with the visual storytelling and the cast are all very good in this very effective low-budget thriller. I’ll be very interested to see his future work.