kong ayanami’s review published on Letterboxd:
Drive My Car is the definition of a slow burn. Over the course of three hours, Ryusuke Hamaguchi's deliberate meditation on grief and healing builds to an incredibly emotional climax. Hamaguchi's script is so brilliant, using Uncle Vanya's prominence in the storyline as a mirror for the lead characters' journeys. Hidetoshi Nishijima and Toko Miura are fantastically understated as a stage actor damaged by tragedy and the woman who drives him around. Though it certainly deserves the recognition, I am stunned that Hollywood has embraced something so uncommercial and showered it with major Oscar nominations. Drive My Car seemingly offers little of the crossover appeal that made Parasite a breakout hit, yet it is somehow having the same effect. We should all be happy to see a challenging piece of cinema succeed in the mainstream.
