This review contains MODERATE SPOILERS for the movie Hit And Run.

Imagine coming home from a night out on the town and discovering that a hangover is the least of your worries.

Hit and Run is an edgy little household adventure that will leave your fingernails bitten raw. After returning from a light drinking session, college student Mary (Laura Breckenridge) makes a gruesome discovery in the early hours of the morning that leads to her killing a man and hiding the evidence. The haunting she then experiences is purely psychological and is expertly crafted for maximum effect and brings about a very real feeling of cabin fever.

Breckenridge does well to hold up the entire movie with very little input from any other character and singly keeps the claustrophobic story standing. The movie includes further emotional loss to Marys life as the movie transforms into a low-key slasher in which her victim somehow manages to come back for revenge. Unlike other movies of similar subject matter though, Hit and Run does it without any staples like four clawed burn victims or a crazy guy in a hockey mask.

What Worked

The opening scenes come as a montage of partying, catching up with old friends and all the usual signs of simple teenage life; a boy friend whos worried for her, relief at having a parental-free weekend and lots of loud, dance-worthy music. And those simple facts are exactly why Marys night is met with a sharp stark contrast - it is dark, quiet and completely devoid of life - all pretty normal considering the early hours of the morning. It is only when she makes her grizzly find on the hood of her car that her life takes a detour.

Breckenridges reaction to watching the news and coming to grips with the idea that she killed a father, a husband and a much loved kindergarten teacher was gut wrenching. Her slowly unraveling sanity at the enormity of her drunken drive home unfolds at a very natural pace and her confession to Rick lays her cover-up out in a very incriminating way.

The movie is pieced together from scenes at various times of the day, seamlessly connected by blurred fade-ins that nicely illustrate Marys blurred senses and slowly slipping grip on reality.

What Didnt Work

The ease with which Mary decides to smash open her victims head without a second thought and then drive out to dispose of the body was completely void of all moral ambiguity and carried an unnatural decisiveness to it (especially considering the trauma of such a grizzly find following a night of drinking). It is only after she makes a clean getaway without any repercussions that the weight of what has happened begins to sink in and Mary proves she is not as morally destitute as originally perceived.

Once Emser (Kevin Corrigan) comes back from the grave though, the movie heads further into the realm of teen slashers and does so without any of the fun, style or enthusiasm that the genre can hold.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

Hit And Run stars Laura Breckenridge, Christopher Shand and Kevin Corrigan. It was written by Diane Doniol-Valcroze and Arthur Flam, and was directed by Enda McCallion. It is available to own on DVD now.