With Baby Driver , Edgar Wright takes this idea to the extreme , integrating music into his car chase thriller to such an extent that the film almost becomes a jukebox musical . His protagonist , Baby ( Ansel Elgort ), is a getaway driver who constantly listens to music on a variety of iPods in order to drown out his tinnitus , the result of a childhood car accident that claimed the lives of his parents . Baby is always playing music , and as an audience , we ’ re always hearing it too , as if sharing an ear bud with Wright ’ s anti-hero . Having been caught in the act of stealing a Mafia Mercedes , Baby has been forced to act as a wheelman for mobster Doc ( played by Jersey native Kevin Spacey ), driving various hoodlums to and from a variety of heists , outrunning the cops to the tune of the contents of his musical device . When he meets and falls for adorable waitress Debora ( Lily James ), also a music buff , Baby decides to quit the