The movie doesn't offer much in the way of substantial character development, but that's not a deterrent when the fun twists keep coming.

The movie culminates in a tense, protracted standoff that keeps the audience on edge for way longer than is comfortable. I mean that as a compliment.

Despite the real, bloody stakes, Cop Car keeps a boyish sense of action and adventure through to a twist ending. You have a right to remain thrilled.

Watts demonstrates masterful control, pushing right up against the limits of what we can take (even non-parents will be rattled watching the boys mishandling loaded weapons), and yet, at every turn, the screenplay falls short of the picture’s full potential, missing opportunities that could have made this a classic.

The narrative derives much of its tension from the unsentimental ambivalence Jon Watts displays toward the story's two pre-teen boys.