Drifter Review: Fast & Furious' Sung Kang Stars In And Directs A Different Kind Of Car Movie

In stark contrast to racing movies, the actor-turned-director takes on the sport of drifting through a melancholic, uplifting study of found family.

Published Sep 13, 2026, 11:44 AM EDT

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Don’t be fooled by the title of Drifter, nor the close association of its co-writer, director, and star to the Fast & Furious movies – Sung Kang’s sophomore directorial endeavor is decidedly more contemplative, melancholic, and thoughtful than the adventures of Dom Toretto & Co. And yet, it shares the blockbuster franchise’s championing of the importance of found family.

Making its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Drifter stars Kang as Tree, a solemn janitor with a traumatic past and a penchant for drifting, living a dull life in a remote desert town. When given the opportunity to compete in an elite drifting competition, Tree agrees, instigating a journey that will see him slowly overcome his insular inclinations.

Sung Kang Makes A Deeply Personal Movie With Drifter

Drifter has all the trappings of a deeply personal project for filmmaker Sung Kang, who was brought to tears at the TIFF premiere screening as he reflected on how much the film means to him. This degree of intimacy comes across on-screen, as he oversees a movie that proudly wears its understated heart on its sleeve.

Bolstering a runtime of 147 minutes, Drifter unfolds at a leisurely pace, much like Kang’s protagonist’s approach to life. An early flashback reveals that Tree had a troubled past, which he appears to still be reckoning with as an adult. To cope with devastating loss, he has turned inward, shutting everyone out of his life and pumping the brakes on anything that even closely resembles an emotion.

The pacing of the film and stoicism of Kang’s performance renders Drifter a rather lengthy watch, although there is certainly something refreshing about a character study unafraid to soak in its atmosphere and take its time moving from beat to beat. Based on the title and Kang’s involvement, many may understandably expect a breakneck, car-based action movie filled with chases and explosions; this couldn’t be further from the truth. Tonally, the film makes for a rather somber watch, and would have benefited from a calculated injection of humor that doesn’t undermine the drama at play.

Sung Kang Impresses In Front Of & Behind The Camera

As Tree is afforded a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to actualize a long-held dream, he is forced to open up his heart to others for the first time since childhood. Kang understands that, in order to properly seed Tree’s arc from isolation to community, he needs to populate his film with meaningful, well-developed supporting characters. He succeeds with these efforts in abundance.

The performances across the board aid in how lived-in the film feels.

Although Tree’s journey lies at the core of Drifter, each of the key supporting players has distinct character arcs of their own, with satisfying beginnings, middles, and ends. Tree’s coach Bennett (Michael Nehring), romantic interest Rosie (Tamara Braun), friend Burdy (Grant Sullivan), and local rival Dusty (James Pumphrey) all feel like fleshed-out characters with individual journeys to become invested in.

The performances across the board aid in how lived-in the film feels. Sung Kang plays Tree with restraint and subtlety, capturing the social and anhedonic withdrawal associated with depression so well. As Tree gradually regains access to emotions buried so deep for so long, Kang sells the transformation as organic and earned. It’s quite the feat to have the audience so profoundly care for a protagonist who offers so little in the way of emotion or dialogue, but Kang’s effortless likability and sincerity ensures this is never a problem.

Regarding supporting performances, Kang’s chemistry with Braun is spot-on, and gives the audience a tender romance to root for. Pumphrey delivers some of the film’s most powerful acting in a critical moment for his character alongside Tree. Even peripheral players with only a handful of scenes leave a lasting impression.

Drifter Follows The Sports Movie Playbook Closely

For as delightfully intimate as Drifter is, the film adheres rigidly to the conventions of the sports drama. Kang’s film hits upon just about every beat and trope seen in movies like Rocky, Remember the Titans, and Coach Carter, meaning it rarely surprises with the directions it heads in.

As a sports film, however, Drifter stands apart in its focus on drifting, rather than racing. A key piece of expositional dialogue early on sees Kang compare racing to speed skating and drifting to figure skating. There is an art to drifting that is missing from racing. While various movies have depicted fast cars gliding around tight corners, none in memory have approached drifting as a sport unto itself.

Kang goes to great lengths to orient unfamiliar audiences to the sport. Prominent figures in the field, including Adam LZ, Dai Yoshihara, Rutledge Wood, and Brian Scotto, all play roles in the film and lend an authenticity to its portrayal of the sport. As for the drifting scenes themselves, Kang clearly learned a trick or two from being on the set of so many Fast movies. Kang employs all kinds of dynamic camera moves to film some of the most intricately choreographed car sequences ever put to film. Scenes involving painting a line with a car-mounted brush and the epic rally of the final competition showcase Kang’s extraordinary handling of more kinetic moments, and suggest the filmmaker could make quite the action movie one day.

Drifter would have benefited from a tighter edit, more levity, and less rigid following of the sports drama playbook, but it is still quite the achievement from the actor-turned-director.

Drifter premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.