Concentrated Drive

**Concentrated Drive** is a road trip movie, created by Nathan Network. The movie follows the story of Mac, Dan, and Steve as they head to California for the Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, and PSY concert.

The writer, Malis C. Bawker was planning on creating a spiritual successor to Concentrated Drive, however it was cancelled mid-production and never released. Even though it was cancelled, one of the scenes where a character went to their grandma's house with the others ended up being so beloved by the other Nathan Network crew, they turned it into a standalone film titled "The Visit to Aunt Granny's"

## History

### Creation (2020)

During a meeting with Nathan Network regarding film ideas, writer Malis C. Bawker came forward about the idea for a road trip movie. The idea was laughed at by many in the studio, however Nathan Caldwell, who also worked on Keeping Up With the Kartels, loved the concept so much, that he even volunteered to edit it. Nathan Greenland, the CEO of Nathan Network also liked the idea and decided to green light it.

### Release & reception

Concentrated Drive released on April 22nd, 2021. The movie was met with mostly positive reception. Some critics praised the atmosphere, cinematography, and realism. With a critic known as Julius Adyu saying this: "I loved Concentrated Drive, they really pinned the tail on the donkey with this one. It reminds me of when I was driving to Iraq to enter the war."

However, some critics critiqued the lack of character development and bad story. Another critic known as Haggy Jack said this: "While this film has some good aspects, a lot of it just is boring. Why do I care about this people going to a concert? I have no attachment to these characters, I don't care whether they make it to the concert or not. This doesn't affect me at all. Though to be fair, I have never watched it, but I did see the trailers!"

## Story

### Road Trip Ahead, I Sure Hope It Does

The film begins with our 3 protagonists, Mac, Dan and Steve getting inside of their gray Toyota Sequoia car at 8:32 PM. The 3 begin discussing about wearing a seatbelt. Dan refuses to wear his since he wants to live life to the fullest, Steve wears his seatbelt, and Mac advocates for wearing one, even though he's not wearing one.

At 8:58 PM, We learn that Steve has never been to California before, however Dan has been to California before, while it's never confirmed, it can be believed Mac has been to California before aswell. They also then discuss the word "YOLO" and they discover that their car has lights inside of it, which they turn on to help light up the movie.

### Snack & Gas

At 9:33 PM, they pull into a 7-Eleven so they can fuel up on gas, and get some snacks. Dan requests something "crunchy, salty and sweet" and Mac requests "Bimbo Bob's Jimmy Slims Beef Jerky". Steve heads into the gas station and buys some Ritz Crackers and some Kashi food bites. Steve ends up talking to the gas station worker to find something crunchy, salty and sweet for Dan. He ends up buying some potato chips for Dan. Steve pays for the food and returns back to the car, however, he forgets to buy Slim Jims for Mac.

### On The Road Again

The guys begin discussing what artist they are looking forward to during the concert. Steve likes Dua Lipa, Dan likes PSY, and Mac likes Justin Bieber. Dan makes fun of Bieber since he's only for teenage girls, Mac makes fun of PSY for being only for Korean people, and Steve makes fun of Dua Lipa for being only for gay people, despite thinking Dua Lipa is the best one.

While playing a game of "make the weirdest and funniest noise" with the three. Mac nearly drifts of the road but he ends up saving the car. Then they end up playing "Dude Looks Like a Lady" on the radio. Meanwhile, Steve yells at Dan for putting his feet on the back of his seat, and it causes Mac to drift off the road. However, they end up fine.

They then get stuck in traffic and they start yelling at people. Mac ends up hitting a guy riding a bike, however we later learn that he was actually driving a van. They proceed to get progressively more angry and irritated by the road trip, Steve even punches and breaks a Costco box in the back of the car that was meant to go to Mac's mom in Pasadena.

### At the Concert, Finally

At 12:28 AM, the 3 finally pull into the concert's parking lot. At this point, Dan asks if they got the COVID-19 vaccine, because they check for the COVID vaccine when you go to the concert. Mac and Steve both say that they haven't got it, however Mac says that they can fake having the vaccine. Steve also mentions that he forgot his ticket to the concert. However, they try to walk past the guards and get to the concert anyways.

### In-N-Out & The Hollywood Sign

At 12:42 AM the guys come back to the car angry, after they realize the concert was in Texas, not California, the whole time. They decide that since they're in California anyways, they may as well get some In-N-Out Burger on the way home, only to find out then In-N-Out is closed as well.

Then they decide to go to the Hollywood sign. At 1:12 AM they arrive at a viewing point for the sign, however, the guys still can't see it, they ask someone where the Hollywood sign is, and the person tells them that it's closed as well. Dan decides to get out of the car so he can jump off the Hollywood sign because "at least he'll see how he dies". Dan gets out of the car and is never seen again after this point, it's unknown what happens to him, but he may have killed himself. Mac doesn't realize that Dan is missing and just assumes that he's in the Costco box in the back of the car.

Mac and Steve decide to drive back home to Texas. They start gassing the car. However, they get in a massive car wreck. It's unknown what occurs after this point as the movie ends.