Director and actor Kafuku is in deep grief over the death of his wife. Still, he takes on a job at a theater in Hiroshima. Here he is confronted with his inner demons, while an unexpected relationship arises with his new driver on their long journeys in a bright red Saab 900. Drive My Car is a beautiful and evocative story about life itself, based on a short story by Haruki Murakami.

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (b. 1978) is one of the most important Japanese director to emerge in recent years. He graduated from the Graduate School of Film and New Media at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2008. His graduation film Passion (2008) was well received and screened at international film festivals. His film Happy Hour (2015) won Special Mention for Script at the Locarno Film Festival, where it was part of the Official Selection. It also received the Best Director Award at the Singapore Film Festival and the Best Screenplay Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Asako I & II (2018) was part of the Official Selection in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Hamaguchi's new film Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021), a triptych about love in modern Japan, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, where it had its world premiere. Drive My Car (2021) is his most recent work, having been distinguished at the Cannes Festival 2021 with the Ecumenical Jury prize, the Best Screenplay prize and the FIPRESCI.