Murderous Robotaxi Film

A new short film called Road Rage is in production, featuring a murderous autonomous car as the villain. The film is currently awaiting $40,000 on Kickstarter to fund production.

The film pits Joa, a ridehail driver, against Roboride, an autonomous vehicle that takes a minor road-rage incident very personally. The AI bad guy will be played by an old Prius transformed with cold LED lights across the front, fake cameras, a spinning lidar-like device on the roof, a black exterior, and a menacing, ever-blinking red dot.

The film's director, Romain Thomassin, describes the intended result as a 'nasty Waymo'. The chase in the film will feature real cars, real actors, and real stunts. Thomassin does not think robotaxis are inherently evil, but uses them as a movie villain because they come preloaded with tension.

## Why it matters The film Road Rage is set in San Francisco and taps into fears about AI on the road. Autonomous cars have gone from sci-fi curiosities to fixtures in some American cities, where they’ve become stand-ins for anxieties about AI job displacement, Big Tech surveillance, and machines making decisions once left to humans. The fact that a robotaxi can now be cast as the villain with almost no explanation says something about the present moment.

The film's production is a sign that robotaxis have entered a new era in popular culture, where they are no longer just seen as a curiosity, but as a potential threat. As autonomous cars become more common, it will be interesting to see how they are portrayed in media and how the public perceives them.