Cop Car

Cop Car (2015) is a lean thriller by John Watts you can watch online on iFILM. Two ten-year-olds wander across an abandoned police cruiser sitting in an open field, keys still in it. So they take it for a spin.

What they don't grasp is whose car it is. The cruiser belongs to a small-town sheriff played by Kevin Bacon, and he needs it back before anyone opens the trunk. Something is in there that was supposed to stay buried. The boys mess around with the gun they find inside, treating the whole thing as a game, while a desperate adult closes in on them. Camryn Manheim and Shea Whigham round out the cast.

Watts shot this four years before Marvel handed him Spider-Man, and the craft is already obvious: he wrings dread out of almost nothing — empty highway, tall grass, one vehicle. Eighty-six taut minutes where the threat isn't a monster but a man lying to save his own skin. Great for anyone who likes their thrillers short and mean. Stream Cop Car (2015) online on iFILM.