‘She Rides Shotgun’ (2025) Movie Review - She is in an Okayish Film

Look at the title of Nick Rowland's new film, She Rides Shotgun. Who is "She?" Polly Huff (Ana Sophia Heger). What does she do? She sits in the front seat of the car, which means, yes, she rides shotgun. How funny! How simple! But then the Internet reminded me that figuratively, to "ride shotgun" can also mean to accompany someone to offer help, protection, supervision, or a watchful eye, without necessarily taking charge. Well, Polly does warn her father, Nathan (Taron Egerton), to watch his back — just as a man tries to sneak up on him while he's busy robbing a cashier. She also alerts him about another threat when he's in the shower. What's more, Polly risks her life to rescue Nathan during the climax. I guess the title is more than appropriate. It's also quite literal in meaning, reflecting the director's own literal-mindedness. Rowland has no ear for dialogue, which is why he leans heavily on the actors to conjure a sense of drama. Heger and Egerton have talent, but under Rowland's direction, all they can do is soberly regurgitate their lines, cross their fingers, and hope for the best. Egerton's performance in She Rides Shotgun is as earnest as Rowland's filmmaking. It's serviceable; it's fine. Heger, though, is the real deal. Despite the limited range she's locked in, she breaks through with a vigorous force during the very last scene, when she dances with wet eyes. Suddenly, you see Heger as a rising star — an actor whose future seems bright.
 

She Rides Shotgun is based on Jordan Harper's novel of the same name, which I have not read. The movie, though, leaves you with almost nothing. When it ends, you wonder, "Is that it?" In one scene, Nathan burns someone's face, and when the camera cuts to Polly's face, we see her smiling. You feel as if the movie is suggesting that Polly has a dark, twisted side. Children are not innocent creatures. Sometimes, they can be dangerous and destructive (see Jamie in Adolescence or Suraj in Tathagat). Writers Harper, Ben Collins, and Luke Piotrowski, however, don't venture into Polly's morbid mind. For the filmmakers, that shot might have as well been an accident. So what to make of that smile? Is Polly happy that Nathan can take care of her, that he can scar a man's face for her safety? She Rides Shotgun goes for ambiguity. Meaning: it's more interested in being generic. It is what it is; it means what it means. Words like "okayish," "serviceable," and "passable" were probably coined so that one day, someone (me) could use them to describe Rowland's crime thriller film.

Final Score- [3/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times