I’ve been paying particular attention to indie action films. They are expensive and dangerous to make, and any little foray into the genre, like Michael Thomas DeLano’s action/sci-fi short Sunset Drive, will always pique my interest.
Sunset Drive takes us into the not-so-distant future. An older couple, Thomas (Joseph Lopez) and Frankie (Kristin Samuelson) is cooking a meal, and soon, their harmless pranking of one another goes a bit overboard…but that’s just them.
Soon, a car pulls up, and the couple finds themselves involved in a home invasion situation. One assailant holds them at gunpoint while the other two search the house for what they call “the shield.” They find the shield, but not before Thomas kills one of them. As the other two drive away, Thomas gets in his classic Ford Mustang and heads out on a high-speed mountain chase to get back the shield.
As things get dark and a pair of red eyes light up the forest…we soon learn what the shield was meant to keep out.

“…Thomas gets in his classic Ford Mustang and heads out on a high-speed mountain chase to get back the shield.”
The great thing about indie films is the constant need to innovate and find ways of replicating what a hundred-million-dollar big studio film can do with mere thousands of dollars. Action films have always been the most elusive genre for the indie with high insurance costs and that damn thing called safety…Sunset Drive comes close to delivering a high-speed car chase.
Sunset Drive delivers action thanks to some quick cuts and impressive drone shots. So much so that it’s hard not to figure out how the magic happens. My only suggestion is to go the extra mile to match interior car action with its corresponding segment. There’s one moment when Thomas is driving down a winding road with a gun in one hand. At those speeds, you really need two hands.
I love the two main leads in Lopez and Samuelson. They have good chemistry together. There’s also a flashback that illuminates Thomas and Frankie’s odd relationship and the terror that plagues the earth today. Rehearsal would be a great benefit all around to make the dialogue sound more natural and less scripted.
In the end, Michael Thomas DeLano delivers a slick indie action short with a sci-fi backdrop worth turning into a full feature. Now that the big elements are in place, it’s time to focus on the small details worthy of a grand action flick.