A cold night in December. Ebba waits for the tram to go home after a party, but the ride takes an unexpected turn. Eirik Tveiten’s short film, “Night Ride” (Norwegian: “Nattrikken”), introduces us to a woman patiently waiting for the next tram to take her home. The night is cold, the woman is alone, and the lights behind her flicker. For any casual audience, this has the makings of a potential danger.
But more so for Ebba (Sigrid Husjord in a terrific nuanced performance), this only means she has to get home whatever it takes. So understandably, it doesn’t sit well with her when the tram arrives, only for the driver to tell her that he’s taking a break and that the tram doesn’t leave in half an hour. She asks to get inside the car even as she waits, since it’s freezing cold. The man refuses, saying she couldn’t be inside without his presence.
Once the driver is out of sight, however, Ebba manually pries the door open. More than wanting to go home, she just wants to stay warm.
I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?
When Pushing the Buttons Ends Up Being a Memorable Late Night Ride
Upon trying to close the door by randomly pushing the control buttons, Ebba inadvertently starts the tram. Seeing there’s no going back now, she throws caution to the wind and proceeds to drive the whole thing; with the intent of pumping the brakes on the cars and alighting once the tram arrives at her own stop.
Naturally, people board the tram, with nary a care who’s in charge behind the wheel. Ebba picks up passengers along the way, including a couple of rowdy men and a woman by her lonesome. One of the men tries to flirt with the woman, who turns out not to be who the men think she is.
As the situation begins to get out of hand, Ebba—observing all of this unfold through the rearview mirror—has to think and act quickly. How does she help stop the harassment from escalating, when the other passengers just look on and refuse to stop it? Does she help at all? Does she reveal she isn’t the driver to begin with?
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‘Night Ride’ and the Reality of Sexism Still Rampant Today
When it premiered in film circuits, “Night Ride” won a slew of awards—among them the Best Narrative Short at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival—and deservedly so. Apart from the writing and directing, the playful score by Morten Rognskog and beautiful cinematography by Vegard Landsverk give this short film an almost-Christmas-y vibe; something that reels the audience in to be invested in what the film has to say.
Indeed, following Ebba’s conundrum as stated previously, the subsequent scenes play out in a darkly humorous and satisfying way; so much so that audiences immediately latch onto Ebba by default as the heroine of the story.
Even so, writer-director Tveiten doesn’t lose his focus on the message here. Sure, “Night Ride” might have a ‘happy’ ending; but it presents the idea of prejudice and sexism against gender identity in a powerful way. The juxtaposition between Ebba calculating what she needs to do and the other passengers being bystanders to harassment is in itself indicative of the reality today. Oftentimes, women are the targets of these attacks, and sometimes it’s the fellow women who willingly lay their safety on the line just to provide the safe space the former need.
“Night Ride” brings these issues to light, and credit goes to Tveiten and his cast. The director’s screenplay boasts of rich one-liners and funny quips that bring levity to what should’ve otherwise been a tonally gloomy film. In particular, Ebba challenging one of the men by telling him to drive the tram instead is a personal spit-take:
“If you’re so tough, perhaps you want to drive the tram?”
“Do your job!”
“I can show you how.”
“Just drive!”
“What? Not man enough?”
An Important Short that Masterfully Drives Its Point
If I had a tiny niggle: the only qualm I have about “Night Ride” is that it is too short. After all, such a good movie deserves a longer runtime, as long as it stays focused on its intent. And I am in the belief that Tveiten would’ve pulled it off had he opted for a feature-length film.
Eventually, however, even such feedback doesn’t qualify as a critique when the film sends its message across loud and clear. “Night Ride” puts gender and identity, prejudice, and sexism front and center; and with Sigrid Husjord leading the way, director Eirik Tveiten nails it in smoothly sending the last train home.
Released in 2020, “Night Ride” has qualified for submission to the Best Live Action Short Film category for the 95th Academy Awards to be held next year.
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