Ride or Die- its Japanese title is Gunjō – is a haunting psychological thriller and romance directed by Ryuichi Hiroki and adapted from Ching Nakamuras manga of the same name. The story centers on Rei Nagasawa, a fastidious young plastic surgeon who has never quite managed to let go of the feelings she harbors for her old classmate Nanae Shinoda.
When Rei discovers that Nanao is enduring savage abuse at the hands of her husband, she takes the drastic step of killing the man in order to set her free. The violent rescue tests the tenuous bond between them, since Nanase swings through gratitude, fear and disgust as she absorbs what Rei has done. Driven by a tangle of guilt, love and panic, the pair then launch into an anxious, charged road trip meant to outrun both police and the ghosts of their past.
During the drive, their connection is pushed and pulled: they wrestle with the ethical burden of the murder, old hurts resurface, and a fierce yet unstable intimacy begins to form. As the tension mounts, Hirokis camera digs into obsession, moral grey areas and the raw fragility that erupts when love is forged in blood.
🎥 Style & Narrative Approach
Ryuichi Hirokis direction wraps viewers in a slow, smoldering mood, moving back and forth between the present and lively flashbacks of Rei and Nanaes school years. These brief returns to youth peel away their hidden history, explaining the roots of Reiss fierce cling and the wounds that still haunt Nanae.
The films rhythm is intentionally leisurely. Though some audience members may struggle with the languid pace, it allows each character to breathe and lets their feelings settle. Hiroki also pictures the sharp, sterile confines of Tokyo against the wide, rough shoreline the sisters steal toward, a shift that echoes their quiet journey from trauma toward a fragile, borrowed freedom.
Sparse dialogue, long pauses, and tight close-ups crank up the emotional heat. The camera often skies inches from its subjects face, lending a near-claustrophobic intimacy to exchanges, especially those between Rei and Nanae. Together these moves probe the knot of trauma, desire, and guilt that binds the two women.
🙋♀️ Cast & Crew
Kiko Mizuhara as Rei Nagasawa-a gifted plastic surgeon whose polished exterior masks a life-long, fevered love.
Honami Sato plays Nanae Shinoda-rei’s ex-classmate and the battered partner Rei tries to rescue.
The film also features Yoko Maki, Anne Suzuki, and a handful of other recognizable faces.
Director Ryuichi Hiroki, known for emotionally raw yet offbeat love tales, sits behind the camera.
Nami Sakkawa provides the screenplay, layering Ching Nakamuras manga into a character-driven script.
Haruomi Hosonos score mixes atmospheric textures with soft, sad tunes that echo the films mood.
Cinematographer Tadashi Kuwabara frames calm surfaces that hide stormy inner conflict.
Editor Minoru Nomoto smoothly braids scenes from past and present into a single emotional arc.
🏆 Reception & Ratings
Critical Response
Ride or Die received generally warm reviews. Critics singled out Kiko Mizuharas performance, praising her blend of vulnerability and obsession.
Many publications noted the film avoids moral lecturing. Instead of tidy heroes and villains, it confronts audiences with messy choices. Its shadowy romance and daring queer lens have drawn comparisons to Thelma & Louise, though with a gloomier, more psychological twist.
Still, some reviewers argue that the movies rhythm and odd structure could push casual viewers away. At more than 140 minutes, the heavy emotional load demands real time and effort.
Audience Reaction
Reactions split, with some people thrilled by the layered plot and others feeling uneasy about the films blunt looks at domestic abuse and ethically gray romance. Many praised the palpable spark between the two leads and applauded the films courage in showing queer women with honesty and depth.
Themes & Significance
- Love, Obsession & Violence
At its center the film asks a hard question: can anything we call love ever excuse an act of violence? Rei kills out of what she claims is protection, yet that moment also springs from a long-buried hunger that never faded. The story twists the idea of rescue until caring and control slide into one indistinct shadow.
- Identity & Emotional Suppression
Both women wrestle with who they really are beneath the surface. Rei, though polished at work, hides raw wounds tied to her sexuality and past rejection. Nanae appears meek, yet inside she trembles with shame and fear of being seen. Their joint flight becomes less about fleeing a place and more about slowly peeling off the masks that have kept them silent.
- Moral Ambiguity & Consequences
The picture steers away from a tidy ending, opting instead to sit with the audience in uneasy silence. It lays out the wreckage that follows brutal choices and the unpredictable feelings those choices unearth. Rather than point fingers, the tale quietly watches; that withheld judgement forces viewers to grapple with moral knots.
- Queer Representation
Ride or Die also claims space with its portrait of queer women at a moment when Japanese cinema still reserves that ground for the occasional side character. The romance it unfurls is hardly perfect; it swings between need, obsession, and genuine harm-yet that messiness rings truer than any glossy love story.
🎯 Why It Matters
LGBTQ+ Visibility in Japanese Film: The film pushes representation forward in an industry that still marginalizes or turns queer stories into spectacle.
Feminist and Psychological Storytelling: Female characters claim real power, even when that power nudges them toward grey rather than clear-cut paths.
Adaptation of Complex Source Material: Staying loyal to the manga, it carries over the raw emotion and layered backstory that hooked readers in the first place.
Exploration of Trauma and Healing: The film stares directly at old wounds and buried longing, leaving room for both painful confrontation and tentative release.
👥 Viewer Guidance
Ideal for viewers who enjoy:
Slow-burning psychological thrillers that linger
Romantic plots rich with moral grey areas
Stories that place female strength and healing front and centre
LGBTQ+ films anchored in real emotion
Content warnings:
Graphic portrayals of domestic abuse
Sequences featuring murder and emotional control
Nudity and sexual situations between consenting adults
🧾 Conclusion
Ride or Die is a probing, emotionally charged film that asks what unfolds when yearning, shared wounds, and ethics collide. Guided with tactile care and style by director Ryuichi Hiroki, and held together by arresting work from Kiko Mizuhara and Honami Sato, it presents queer love not as slogan or dream, but as a painful, messy fact of life.
Though the viewing experience is neither breezy nor comfortable, the film remains urgent-it dares spectators to endure unease, feel for flawed people, and rethink the unpredictable forms love can assume in hurt souls. By inviting that reckoning, Ride or Die positions itself as a landmark entry in modern queer cinema and psychological storytelling alike.
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