Drive poster

Drive (2011)

Film · 1h 40m · Rated R

Crime, Drama, Thriller

A stoic stuntman navigates the neon-soaked underworld, protecting a family while a heist unravels into gritty violence.

Suspenseful and pulpy. A late-night trip at a measured pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Not on a US subscription service as of Oct 25, 2026.

Drive parents guide

Nothing past what an R promises: some innuendo or implied sex and brutal violence.

Scare
Mildly scary
A few tense or eerie moments.
Jump scares
None noted
Gore
Graphic gore
Blood and wounds shown clearly.
Violence
Brutal violence
Our top level for violence.
Sex and nudity
Mild
Mild means innuendo, or sex implied off screen, with no nudity.
Language
Moderate
Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Drive scary?
Only a little. Drive has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is Drive?
Graphic gore and brutal violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.
What is Drive rated, and is it OK for kids?
No. It is rated R, with brutal violence, some strong language and graphic gore.

What is Drive about?

Driver is a skilled Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. Though he projects an icy exterior, lately he's been warming up to a pretty neighbor named Irene and her young son, Benicio. When Irene's husband gets out of jail, he enlists Driver's help in a million-dollar heist. The job goes horribly wrong, and Driver must risk his life to protect Irene and Benicio from the vengeful masterminds behind the robbery.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

It leaves the ending open to interpretation.

Cast and crew

Directed byNicolas Winding Refn
StarringRyan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks

More like Drive

Drive is on our Revenge, Mob and gangsters, Noir and neo-noir, Set in Los Angeles and Thriller lists.

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Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

Lists with the same feel: Most violent and Late night.

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Say the mood. Five picks with where they stream, right here.

Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.