Car Brain World Premiere
Bok Auditorium
800 Mifflin St.
Philadelphia
Oct. 29, 2026
I attended a screening for the documentary Car Brain this past Halloween weekend. Car Brain is a new documentary film by Matthew Ober, a filmmaker based here in Philly, and Reed McCoy, a multi-media/video artist and musician who fronts local wild-man band Half. Both have been working on this project for close to five years. The screening was at the gorgeous BOK auditorium and the filmmakers had anticipated up to a couple hundred people. Instead they had an audience of 500. You could see the nervous bewilderment on the directors' faces as they walked up to introduce the movie to heavy applause. The crowd remained excited and receptive throughout the screening.
Before the main feature, the filmmakers played us an odd experimental short film by director Sam Dellert called Pylon, which was about a woman achieving something called "Cone Consciousness." According to the narration, "In the beginning, the universe was shaped like a pyramid. Humankind existed as vassals in complete darkness. One fateful day, a hero climbed to the top of the universe, cut a hole in its ceiling, and light flooded to all." Judging from this explanation of the shape of the pyramid-like universe and a hole being cut at the top of said pyramid, it's not too hard to guess that the universe being described kind of resembles a traffic cone. The thought of us all crammed inside a traffic cone easily relates to our fair city Philadelphia. We are all crammed in here together, trying to negotiate our way around each other, trying to be in community.
The film starts off with Reed in a bind many Philadelphians can relate to: the deep sting of having received $800 in accrued Parking Authority tickets. His narration takes a step back to focus on interviews with friends and all manner of citizens coming from various viewpoints: drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, activists, former PPA officers, and lawyers. As the narration develops, the point of the documentary develops beyond the seemingly righteous anger of parking fees into a more reflective piece on the nature of public and private traffic, rethinking why we prioritize cars while offering us a quirky but poignant portrait of Philly itself.
There is a distinct local flavor to the film. A great scene features Reed's neighbor Sue, who shows us her living room with framed pictures of old movie stars like Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. She extrapolates on the framed photos through creative, spiritual and astrological embellishments about their meanings to her. She then references them as she casts some sort of incantation or spell presumably to help Reed out with his quest to resolve his ticket woes. These kind of Philly personalities really anchor the film deep in Philly itself. Touches like this, coupled with the choice to shoot the documentary on the easy and approachable miniDV camcorders, give the film warmth and approachability.
This film touches on something that I've barely heard articulated before. Simon Firth, a local figure well known as a bicycle shop owner and for his general opinions on cars, has an excellent scene where in referencing the PPA he states, "I like them." He then holds out a sign stating "Fuck Cars," and with devil horn fingers fully splayed, he adamantly states: "All hail the PPA!" The entire theater erupted in applause. This is the first time I've ever seen anything remotely like this in Philadelphia.
Arguments for the PPA aside, the film itself feels like it's been edited by someone with a lot of experience. Sequences don't feel crowded or forced and changes are often humorous and have a relaxed flow. I didn't feel any sense of lag or like I'd been sitting there too long. The film that, at first glance, comes across as a funny little low-budget feature turns out to be a weighty, contemplative documentary. A certain magic happened between the promotion of the film and the perfect timing of its release just before Halloween, which happened to come around on a weekend this year. The effect of the movie on a sold-out audience thanks to its Philly specific quirks and topical subject matter gave me the feeling of that I might be witnessing a cult classic in the making. I went in knowing I'd probably like it, but I was genuinely surprised by how much.
