Monolith

With the automation of modern life proving increasingly unstoppable, this nightmarish thriller is a terrifying what-if illustration of potential dangers. Here, a young mum (Katrina Bowden) finds herself at the mercy of the security protocols of her state-of-the-art Monolith car when she takes a spontaneous short cut to Los Angeles and ends up stranded in the desert. That's terrifying enough, but then she's accidentally locked out of the vehicle, leaving her onesie-clad toddler strapped to his seat inside. With the smart car impossible to breach and the desert heat slowly roasting her son alive, the desperate Bowden is plunged into a fraught race-against-time to save the tot from a horrible death. It's a simple set-up but the result is a stiflingly tense tale that preys on every parent's primal fears.