Drive My Car

Two years after his wife's death, Yūsuke Kafuku, a seasoned stage actor and director, takes on a production of Uncle Vanya for a Hiroshima theater festival. The project gives him a way to face his grief while staying in a hotel between rehearsals. A quiet driver named Misaki is hired to escort him, and their conversations in the car become the film's emotional center. Through these rides, memories of the past surface, and confessions surface in restrained, intimate exchanges. The story unfolds at a measured pace, avoiding sensational twists while focusing on how art and affection shape a man learning to live with loss. The Hiroshima setting remains a quiet backdrop where dialogue arrives in measured silence for audiences worldwide.

Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, the film adapts Haruki Murakami's short story Drive My Car with a screenplay co written by Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe. It premiered in 2021 at Cannes and soon reached international audiences, highlighting a restrained intimate approach.

Worldwide gross totals $15,356,046 against a budget of 1.3 million, reflecting strong festival legs and steady international release and critical acclaim worldwide. It played at major festivals and arthouse circuits, boosting visibility for Japanese cinema in North America and Europe.

Critics praise the film for its restrained performances and long quiet exchanges that invite contemplation after the credits roll. It helped reinforce contemporary Japanese cinema on the world stage, with Misaki and Yusuke's car conversations standing as a standout example of intimate, character driven drama. Its stillness invites thoughtful pauses.

Reviewers praised Hamaguchi's restrained direction and the film's exploration of grief, memory, language, and connection. The story emphasizes how small conversations and acts of care can illuminate a life after loss, offering a quiet, humane meditation rather than flashy turns. It also probes language and silence as intimacy, globally too.