--- title: "Drive My Car: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/drive-my-car/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/drive-my-car" critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 22 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Drive My Car (2021): what the critics said Critics' score 78 from 22 reviews: 19 positive, 1 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics take to this warmly, and the praise lands in the same places. The reviews single out Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s direction, and in particular the way he expands a short Murakami story into a three-hour film that most say never feels padded. The performances of Hidetoshi Nishijima and Toko Miura are widely admired for their restraint, and several critics point to the long conversations in the red Saab as the film’s centre, where grief and guilt are finally spoken aloud. The multilingual Uncle Vanya rehearsals and the script draw repeated mention. The reservations are almost all about pace. Several find the film glacial, and a few warn that the Chekhov-heavy second half asks for the right mood. The spread is otherwise narrow, with two sharp dissents: Slant Magazine and The Wrap both admire the opening and think the later sections undo it, one blaming explanatory backstory, the other melodrama. HeyUGuys finds it obtuse for anyone new to Hamaguchi. ## Financial Times — Danny Leigh Rating ★★★★☆. 24 March 2022. The critic hails the low-key Japanese marvel about truth, loss and a red Saab, praising the subtle glide of the storytelling and the director’s deft handling of eccentric character traits as everyday. It singles out the car-tone sanctuary of the old red Saab carrying souls in transit amid grief and connection. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/8fc10b01-3645-4b38-81d4-5b25a38579f4) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 November 2021. The critic hails it as a haunting masterpiece of art and life, melancholy and wise. It follows an actor-director through experimental theater work and personal loss, finding catharsis in performance and human connection. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-11-29/drive-my-car-review-ryusuke-hamaguchi) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2021. The review praises the film as an overwhelmingly powerful tale of guilt and confession centered on artists’ collaborations. It highlights the continuity between personal relationships and artistic achievements in a grandly literary drama. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/drive-my-car-reviewed-a-murakami-adaptation-about-sex-lies-and-art) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Rating Critic's Pick. 24 November 2021. The critic calls the film a quiet masterpiece that considers grief, love, work, and the power of art. It expands on its source material to explore an actor-director’s emotional journey and unexpected connection with his driver. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/24/movies/drive-my-car-review.html) ## Variety — Guy Lodge Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2021. Festival review. The review describes a deliberate, deeply moving tale of grief, renewal, and driving pleasure in this aching emotional epic. It adapts a short Murakami story into a slow, wise three-hour film that never feels overextended. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/drive-my-car-review-1235016509/) ## Empire — Ian Freer Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 19 November 2021. The film is a beautiful, enigmatic picture that rewards attention despite its long runtime, with Hamaguchi's direction refined and the performances of Nishijima and Miura delivering modulated portraits of melancholy. It stands out as a visually striking work teeming with ideas about grief, betrayal and creativity, and the most successful cinematic Murakami adaptation. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/drive-my-car/) ## Film Comment — Adam Nayman Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 October 2021. Festival review. The critic praises Hamaguchi's expansion of the Murakami story into a three-hour drama that feels both claustrophobic and panoramic, highlighting the film's literary and dialogical power alongside a wordless coda evoking life's asymmetries. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/are-you-talking-to-me-ryusuke-hamaguchi-drive-my-car-wheel-of-fortune-and-fantasy-adam-nayman/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 November 2021. The critic calls the film a supremely confident Haruki Murakami adaptation about a widowed actor bonding with his chauffeur while exploring the creative process, jealousy and guilt. It praises the satisfying layers of storytelling and fluid score but notes the three-hour runtime and Chekhov-heavy second half may require the right mindset. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/nov/21/drive-my-car-review-ryusuke-hamaguchi-haruki-murakami) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 17 July 2021. Festival review. The critic describes the three-hour film as profoundly beautiful and haunting, praising how it uses every second wisely in its tale of a bereaved actor-director and his red automobile, adapted from Murakami stories. It highlights the gradual, cool and clean style that builds to a dizzying effect on grief, infidelity and making peace with one's role. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2021/07/17/drive-car-cannes-review-profoundly-beautiful-haunting-murakami/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2021. Festival review. Hamaguchi effectively adapts Murakami’s short story into a long but engaging film with intriguing narrative layers, attractive leads and a pleasant score. The director takes the source as a springboard, expanding it with twists while focusing on grief, secrecy and the car as a theatrical space. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/drive-my-car-cannes-review/5160842.article) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2021. Festival review. The critic describes an understated and precise adaptation that reflects on language, emotion and loss through the central relationship between passenger and driver. The film finds intimacy in shared tasks and explores performance, memory and grief via extended rehearsals and road journeys. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/drive-my-car-meditative-trip-down-memory-lane-murakami-haruki-hamaguchi-ryusuke) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Stephen Dalton Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2021. Festival review. The critic calls it a rambling but ultimately rewarding ride, praising its absorbing, technically assured exploration of love, loss, grieving and healing with poetic depths. The slow, ponderous three-hour pace and extended scenes are noted as drawbacks, but internalized performances and emotional payoffs in the closing act are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/drive-my-car-cannes2021-1234980492/) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★☆. 19 November 2021. The critic calls it a mesmerising three-hour meditation on the interior life of a theatre director, praising the glacial pace, lovely deadpan details about the wife’s creative process during sex, and the slow-burning narrative driven by infidelity and multilingual Uncle Vanya production. It notes a modicum of hope in the ending but only just. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/drive-my-car-review-a-mesmerising-three-hour-meditation-8vptn5dg3) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2021. Festival review. The review highlights the film's voluptuous slowness and focus on the materiality of objects, textures, and surfaces in conveying mourning and longing, especially in the first act. It criticizes the later shift toward causal explanations and character backstories that dilute the initial opacity and sensuous appeal. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/drive-my-car-review-hamaguchi-ryusuke-murakami-haruki/) ## NME — Paul Bradshaw Rating 5/5. 28 March 2022. The critic calls the film a melancholy three-hour epic about grief and self-deception that rewards patience, singling out its stunning direction, acting, and one of the best scripts in years for making earned emotion feel real. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/drive-my-car-review-the-beatles-3192231) ## Collider — Adam Grinwald Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 March 2022. The critic calls it a brilliant, profound film that uses its long runtime to examine the complicated and pervasive power of grief with dramatic restraint and emotional resonance. Hamaguchi's patient pacing and focus on contradictory emotions in mourning are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://collider.com/drive-my-car-portrays-complicated-nature-of-grief/) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2021. Festival review. The critic finds the three-hour film engaging throughout despite its length, praising its sharp insights into love, loss, marriage, grief and the truths of acting on stage and off. They highlight the exceptional performances, especially by Hidetoshi Nishijima and Toko Miura, and the way conversations in the car reveal vulnerability. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2021/07/drive-my-car-cannes-review-japanese-competition-entry-1234790237/) ## The Playlist — Gregory Ellwood Rating A-. 11 July 2021. Festival review. The critic praises it as a rich, skillfully layered masterwork with flawless performances and a script that sticks in the brain, noting its leisurely pace but finding the grounded ambitions captivating overall. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/drive-my-car-masterful-drama-cannes-20210711/) ## Paste — Natalia Keogan Rating 8.3/10. 24 September 2021. The review praises the film's languorous, unhurried emotional introspection and its graceful expansion of Murakami's story into a melancholy meditation on pain, performance, and catharsis. The director's decisions to elongate quiet moments of conflict and revelation are highlighted as rewarding. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/ryusuke-hamaguchi/drive-my-car-review) ## /Film — Jason Gorber Rating 8/10. 20 July 2021. Festival review. The critic calls it an ambitious yet quietly confident film that enthralls over its long runtime with subtlety and care, highlighting powerful performances and a deft touch that draws viewers into the story without feeling boring. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/582639/drive-my-car-review-cannes/) ## HeyUGuys — Adam Solomons Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 14 July 2021. Festival review. The critic finds the film a beautifully shot and brilliantly acted spectacle about lasting traumas and how artists deal with them, but notes it never quite justifies its alienated approach to the source material and can feel obtuse, especially for newcomers or over its long runtime. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/drive-my-car-review/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2021. Festival review. The critic praises the film's strong opening prologue and its precise evocation of a fraught marriage but finds the later sections undermined by heavy-handed melodrama that fails to earn emotional investment. They note the many interesting flourishes and tangents but conclude the film sputters toward the end. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/drive-my-car-cannes-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/drive-my-car.md