Ride or Die starts with an attention grabbing opening and it's not clear which way it's going to go with it. A young woman picks up a man, goes home with him, and in a scene which is both sexually and violently explicit, she kills him. The film is shot with neon vibrancy at that point and it all leads the viewer to wonder whether the film intends to exploit these themes for titillation, or if the film is forcing us to wrestle with the violence and sexuality in a way that will explore how these forces permeates or culture and how we are complicit in them. Former soft core pornography film maker Hiroki teases us and puts us on edge with how he blends the shocking into his story.
The film then becomes a road trip as the killer and the woman she loves (who it turns out was the abused wife of the dead man) go on the run. Hiroki spends the time on developing who they are, how they got to this point, and where they might end. What makes Ride or Die work is the way he balances the explicit parts of his story with the character development so investing the audience in who we are watching that the intensity of the graphic scenes becomes more real and not just titillation. He tells this story of these two women finding a real joy as they run towards what they explicitly say is their end and encounter so many road blocks (no pun intended) on this journey mixing the tragic with an exuberant liberation. But it also explores how complicated their relationship is, asynchronous, and not necessarily romanticized. Hiroki films much of this part in the sun, creating a beautiful pastoral feeling while the film wrestles with all the complicated emotions happening.
I am always a bit concerned about how we tell the stories of others, stories that aren't ours. I understand Hiroki has a history with LGBTQ stories and he does manage to make his central characters more than stereotypes. He finds little moments to pull us into his characters's arcs. There is a lovely little scene between a grown daughter and her mother which is charming and inspiring. There is a little moment with a cab driver that speaks to how much culturally is stacked against these women. It is these moments in the film that make it more than just a revenge thriller, more than just a movie with explicit sex scenes and it then makes the intense moments more effecting. Still, Hiroki uses an unblinking eye, a choice which some may legitimately find problematic. He makes us watch and he may have good reasons for that, but there are also issues which may not completely be overcome. The film might hit different people differently, negatively and positively, or perhaps both. For example there is a Blue is the Warmest Colour moment near the end which one can view a few ways.
But in the end the film seems to do more right than wrong, especially with its deliciously ambiguous ending which avoids the big climax one thinks is coming and instead remains rather understated leaving you wondering truly what will happen next.
Ride or Die
Starring: Kiko Mizuhara, Honami Sato
Director: Ryuicki Hiroki
Writer: Nami Sikkawa
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