EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK: Stills from James Arden’s Panavision-backed ‘Black Cab’
9 June 2026 | By Natalia Albin
Black Cab dives into the very near-future dilemma of a black cab driver, played by Jay Simpson (Black Mirror, Pistol, Chernobyl), facing the physical and psychological toll of watching his livelihood be eroded by self-driving cars. The film also stars Gemma Dyllen (The Death of Bunny Munro) and Anna-Maria Everett (Killing Eve).
"Finishing this film, submitting to festivals on my laptop, and then catching the bus to meetings in Soho, only to see driverless cars training on London's streets, was truly surreal," says writer and director James Arden. "I think many of us in the creative industries are going through an identity crisis right now, much like Harry in the film. Will our jobs, as we know them, exist in five or ten years? You can't blame people for feeling scared, angry or stressed in such a fast-evolving landscape. After all, we all just want to feel like we still have a place in this world."
Simpson found a personal connection to his character through the threat AI has posed to the creative industries. "I'd thought about AI a lot before meeting James and playing Harry," he says, "but making this film has made me think so much more deeply about what is coming for us all in a world where AI is advancing at a pace beyond anything most of us had imagined."
Short Stuff has an exclusive first look at stills from the film below:
Director of Photography Adam Barnett was drawn in from the very first page. "The script really caught my attention. The claustrophobia of Harry's life crumbling away at the edges, only elevated further by James's direction and Jay's performance," he says. To match that sense of dread, the production shot in 35mm. "From that friction comes a spark. The camera was huge and unwieldy, and we used long zooms to add to the weight of Harry's growing dread and frustration. Shooting a near-future, quietly dystopian story in a grounded, Alan Clarke-style was really appealing."
For Dyllen, who plays Harry’s wife, the film's themes struck closer to home than she might have expected. "The threat of being expendable: that's exactly what AI presents to so many of us," she reflects. "All the technology on offer promises speed and convenience, but what are we actually going to do with all that spare time and energy? Will we have lost the ability to connect? Will we even have jobs or money to enjoy it? What's it all about if it doesn't give us more time with the people we love — more time to scroll? Is that really all it's giving us?"
Black Cab is currently on its festival run. The film is produced by Marcus and Luke Ellingham and is a Brother Film production, made in association with Panavision, Kodak, TenThree and Electric Theatre Collective.