Dolus: the Luxury SUV that stole the spotlight in “Locked”

A Car That Became a Character

In Locked (2025), director David Yarovesky’s claustrophobic thriller, the tension doesn’t just come from its stellar cast—Bill Skarsgård as a desperate thief, Anthony Hopkins as the enigmatic mastermind—but from a car. More precisely, an SUV. The Dolus, as it’s called, isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a fully fledged character, a technological marvel that imprisons rather than transports.

At first glance, Dolus looks like something you might spot in the valet line of a luxury hotel: sleek, imposing, with a silhouette that radiates power and refinement. Yet beneath its glossy finish lies a trap designed for psychological warfare. The vehicle is fitted with bulletproof glass, reinforced steel, and an advanced surveillance system capable of tracking every movement inside. In one particularly chilling detail, the leather seats conceal built-in tasers—making the act of sitting down as dangerous as attempting escape. In Locked, Dolus becomes an instrument of control, a luxury SUV transformed into a silent executioner.

The Real Car Behind the Fiction

Car enthusiasts may notice something familiar about this menacing machine. Despite the fictitious branding, Dolus is rooted in reality: it’s built on the bones of a 2020 Land Rover Defender, chosen by the filmmakers for its cinematic proportions and robust engineering. The production team commissioned three versions of the SUV, each serving a different role—one for close-ups, one for stunts, and one with a modular interior that allowed the camera to glide through its confined space. These vehicles weren’t mere shells; they were fully functional, and one now resides at the Volo Museum in Illinois, a testament to how far filmmakers will go to bring a vision to life.

Can You Actually Buy Dolus?

So, can you actually buy a Dolus? The short answer is no—at least not in the way the movie presents it. There’s no Dolus brand, no dealer lot offering armored electric SUVs with integrated tasers. The name itself, Latin for “deception,” was deliberately invented to avoid tarnishing any real automaker’s reputation. However, with enough time and money, it’s theoretically possible to create something similar. Industry experts estimate that a bespoke SUV with this level of armor, custom interiors, electric powertrain, and cinematic design would cost well over half a million dollars, possibly reaching the seven-figure mark that the film’s own production cars were rumored to command.

The Design Vision Behind Dolus

What makes Dolus so compelling isn’t just its menacing design, but the level of craftsmanship behind it. The SUV was conceived by Andy Smith, a designer with a résumé that includes work on iconic Hollywood vehicles like the Batmobile. Smith and his team had just eight weeks to transform the Defender into something both beautiful and terrifying, a machine that could carry the story’s tension without overshadowing it. Every detail, from its copper-accented leather to its seamless integration of hidden weaponry, reflects this obsessive attention to design.

A Glimpse of the Future of Luxury SUVs

Dolus represents a fascinating intersection of cinema and automotive culture. It embodies the fantasy of what luxury cars could be if stripped of their conventional role as status symbols and reimagined as characters in their own right. It’s not available for purchase, and perhaps it never will be, but its very existence blurs the line between fiction and reality. In a world where electric supercars and armored SUVs already exist, Dolus feels like a glimpse of a future where power, luxury, and danger coexist in the same vehicle—a future that may not be as far off as it seems.