Columbus (2017)
Like ‘Drive My Car,’ Kogonada’s debut feature is a story of two strangers finding a profound, platonic connection while navigating family trauma. Jin (John Cho) is in a small Indiana town because his estranged architect father has fallen into a coma;
Casey (Haley Lu Richardson) is a local architecture enthusiast tethered to the town by her recovering addict mother. Their long, quiet conversations about modernist buildings become a way to talk about everything else: duty, ambition, and the weight of the past. It’s a beautiful, patient film about how art and shared spaces can help us process what we can't say out loud.
Paterson (2016)
This Jim Jarmusch gem captures the quiet rhythm of a creative life. Adam Driver plays Paterson, a bus driver in Paterson, New Jersey, who is also a poet. The film follows one week in his life, finding beauty in his daily routine: driving his bus, observing his passengers, writing in his notebook, and spending time with his ambitious partner. It shares ‘Drive My Car's’ appreciation for the mundane as a container for profound artistic and emotional discovery, suggesting that art isn't just for grand stages but is found in the quiet moments of an ordinary life.
Yi Yi (A One and a Two...) (2000)
Edward Yang’s nearly three-hour masterpiece is a sprawling, compassionate portrait of a middle-class family in Taipei over the course of a year. Much like Hamaguchi's film, ‘Yi Yi’ uses its generous runtime to explore complex emotional landscapes and the intersecting lives of its characters, who are all grappling with their own quiet crises of love, work, and meaning. The film suggests we only know half the truth because we can only see what’s in front of us, a theme that resonates with the slow unpeeling of character histories in ‘Drive My Car’.
Certain Women (2016)
Director Kelly Reichardt is a master of the quiet, observational drama, and this film is one of her best. It tells three loosely connected stories of women in small-town Montana, each navigating a moment of quiet yearning or frustration. Starring Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, and Kristen Stewart, the film is defined by what’s unsaid in its vast, lonely landscapes. It shares with ‘Drive My Car’ a patient, deliberate pace and a deep empathy for characters whose internal lives are rich with unspoken longing and quiet desperation.
Shoplifters (2018)
From another modern Japanese master, Hirokazu Kore-eda, ‘Shoplifters’ asks profound questions about what makes a family. Following a makeshift family of small-time criminals living in poverty, the film finds incredible warmth and humanity in their unconventional bond. Like ‘Drive My Car,’ it’s a story about people finding connection and healing outside of traditional structures, examining themes of grief and morality with a deeply humanistic lens and avoiding easy judgments.
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)
If you want to stay in the world of director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, this is the perfect next step. Released the same year as ‘Drive My Car,’ this triptych of short stories explores similar themes of chance encounters, role-playing, and the surprising intimacy of long conversations. Each vignette focuses on women navigating love, regret, and coincidence, showcasing Hamaguchi's signature ability to build thrilling drama out of seemingly simple human interactions and dialogue.
Right Now, Wrong Then (2015)
Korean director Hong Sang-soo is renowned for his talky, structurally playful films, and this is a perfect entry point. The film tells the same story twice: a male film director meets a female painter, and they spend the day together. The first half shows one version of events, and the second half shows it again with subtle but crucial differences. It’s a fascinating, funny, and melancholic exploration of how small choices and shifts in tone can change everything in a relationship, a theme that echoes the careful character work in ‘Drive My Car.’
The Souvenir (2019)
Joanna Hogg’s semi-autobiographical film is a raw and intimate look at a young film student (Honor Swinton Byrne) who gets into a destructive relationship with a charismatic older man. The connection to ‘Drive My Car’ is the profound exploration of how art becomes a way to process life and trauma. We watch the protagonist struggle not just with a toxic romance but with finding her own creative voice amidst the chaos. It’s a painful but deeply rewarding character study.
Certified Copy (2010)
From Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami, this film is a puzzle box that lives entirely in conversation. A British writer (William Shimell) and a French antiques dealer (Juliette Binoche) meet in Tuscany and spend the day together, their relationship seeming to shift from strangers to a long-married couple and back again. The film masterfully explores themes of authenticity, memory, and the stories we tell ourselves, questioning whether a copy can be as valuable as the original—a perfect companion to the theatrical themes in ‘Drive My Car.’
A Ghost Story (2017)
Don’t be fooled by the simple, almost comical premise of a ghost in a white sheet. This film by David Lowery is a profound, meditative, and heartbreaking exploration of grief, time, and legacy. After a man dies, he remains as a silent observer in his home as his grieving wife eventually moves on and time marches forward in unexpected ways. It shares the deep, melancholic soul of ‘Drive My Car,’ using a high-concept idea to tap into a universal feeling of loss and the search for meaning in the spaces we leave behind.
