You Should Watch COP CAR This Weekend

We already have a review up on the site for Cop Car, the new film from upcoming Spider-Man solo movie director Jon Watts. Our team saw the film back in January at Sundance, but I had the opportunity to see it for the first time this past weekend, and I wanted to take a second and give you a recommendation in case you're looking for a movie to see this weekend.

Cop Car is a very small movie, but it's also one that knows exactly how to twist every ounce of suspense out of its slimmed down story. The plot revolves around a couple of young kids who discover an abandoned police cruiser in the woods, take it out for a spin, and then have to contend with the sheriff (Kevin Bacon) who wants it back. To say much more would be to spoil the film's surprises, but this movie feels like what Stand By Me would have been if it was written and directed by the Coen Brothers. It's a taut thriller that knows how to keep the audience on the edge of our seats at just the right moments, and it feels refreshingly real in the way it depicts the friendship (and language) between its two young leads (James Freedson-Jackson and Hays Wellford).

Bacon does strong work as usual, but even with his star power, I think this is one of those movies that's going to slip by under most people's radar. I wanted to do my part to make sure that doesn't happen by recommending you check it out because I think it's one of the best-made low budget thrillers I've seen in a long time. The movie is in theaters now in L.A., New York, Atlanta, Phoenix, Boston, Portland, Denver, San Antonio, Houston, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Minneapolis, and Washington DC this weekend, and it's available On Demand everywhere else. Give it a chance — you won't be sorry you did.