Drive

A quiet Los Angeles mechanic works as a Hollywood stunt driver and criminal getaway specialist. His growing attachment to neighbor Irene and her son leads him to help her indebted husband Standard with a robbery that quickly exposes a larger betrayal.

Refn bathes nocturnal Los Angeles in neon, reflective windshields, empty pauses, synth-pop longing, and abrupt bodily violence, while Ryan Gosling's minimal performance makes the Driver's self-created heroic identity both alluring and brittle.