Joyride

My name’s Joy, I know, it’s false advertising!

Year Released: 2022

Director: Emer Reynolds

Cast: Charlie Reid, Olivia Colman, and Lochlann Ó Mearáin

So after Pride Month, I needed a little break from reviewing movies as doing a film review every day for a full month can become exhausting, especially when you don’t get paid for doing it.

In that time, a small Irish movie called “Joyride” was released in the UK with little fanfare or acknowledgement, and left with barely a whimper. I live in a city with at least six cinemas in it, and the movie was only shown at one of them, once a day for a week, and then it was gone. But just as I’ve found in my annual breakdown of movies at the end of each year, it’s often the smaller movies that turn out to be worth the watch.

I wasn’t initially going to review it, but considering it had a cinema release, just 157 votes on IMDB shows the scale that it failed to hit the market with any meaningful impact, but, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, so, was “Joyride” worthy of such a small theatrical run, or were audiences wrong to give this a miss in a month where there are very few new films being released every month?

Plot

Mully (Reid) is at his mother’s funeral when he witnesses his father (Mearáin) attempt to steal money that was intended to be for a cancer charity. He runs away with it in protest, stealing a taxi as a getaway vehicle, little knowing that Joy (Colman) a new mother, is asleep in the backseat. When she wakes up, she is less than pleased about about potentially missing her plane, and an appointment in Drollin.

The pair form an unlikely friendship as Mully tries to help Joy with early motherhood, but she is less than reluctant as it turns out she was going to Drollin to give the baby away to a friend who is desperate for the baby. Mully promises to drive her, but little do they know that a familiar face isn’t far behind.

So, was it worth the watch, and will it feature anywhere near my top ten at the end of the year?

“Joyride” is a film that I wasn’t anticipating particularly enjoying. When I first saw the trailer, I thought it was going to be one of those that lacked a lot of substance, and just playing off of Olivia Colman’s popularity in the UK in an attempt to get viewed, but I’m glad I gave it a chance.

Firstly, as hinted at above, Olivia Colman is ridiculously popular in the UK, and she is one of those actresses that older audiences just gravitate towards. I’m 37, and in my screening of about 20 people, I was visibily one of the younger there. She is, of course, an absolute delight in this movie, nailing the moody aspect to her character, whilst also showing the vulnerability and likeable aspects to her as well. Even though Mully is the main character, she is the drawing point, and comfortably the best part about the film.

They tackle the themes of independence and struggling with motherhood in a manner that is not only poignant, but insightful. It would be easy to pass this off as a road-trip where every problem is solved along the way, but this doesn’t feel like this, and throughout you feel that the bond between Joy and Mully is not only deserved, but it feels real. 

The movie is dialogue heavy, but it works to be an advantage, and I was never even close to being bored. I thought that it was not only witty and sharp, but also poignant in parts, and whilst the movie does become a bit predictable,

As I say, for the most part, it’s a good movie, although the first half is significantly stronger than the second, and around the hour mark is starts to really lose what made it enjoyable in the first place. As they keep saying in the film “forwards, not back”, but it never feels like that. Some of the ideas in the second half behind more far fetched than is plausible, and I found it harder to truly enjoy the movie as a whole.

“Joyride” will still feature high up on my countdown, but it is unlikely to reach the top ten.

Summary

A good movie, there’s no doubt about that, and one I’m happily going to give the approved stamp to.

“Joyride” does have some issues with it’s inconsistent story telling, with a second half that is singificantly less interesting than the first, but you are prepared to let that go because of the work of both Colman and Reid.

The chance to see it in cinemas in the UK has largely past, but it will more than likely appear on one of the streaming services soon, and I’d recommend you give it a watch.