Film

Driveways

Name: Driveways
Genre: Drama
Released: 2020
Cast: Hong Chau, Lucas Jaye, Brian Dennehy, Christine Ebersole, Jerry Adler

Coming-of-age

A quiet, unsentimental film about an eight-year-old boy and an elderly widower who become unexpected neighbors for one summer. Hong Chau and child actor Lucas Jaye anchor this story of two people learning to need each other without fanfare. It moves slowly, trusts silence, and finds profound tenderness in small moments. For anyone who loves character-driven drama that respects its audience's intelligence.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like small, observant films where a lonely kid and an older man's gentle company do the heavy lifting, and where nothing needs to be explained out loud.

Skip it if you need plot momentum or a lot of incident; this moves at the unhurried pace of a child's summer, with long stretches where little seems to happen.

What it asks of you: Expect patience: it is short, quiet and restrained, asking you to sit with awkward silences and small gestures rather than building toward big dramatic set pieces.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Nebraska2013

Bruce Dern and Will Forte as an aging father and son on a cross-country journey, finding connection through displacement and obligation. Another film that finds the fullness of ordinary lives without sentimentalizing them.

But Black and white cinematography and a deliberate pace may feel static if you're expecting conventional narrative momentum.

The Farewell2019

Lulu Wang's film about a Chinese-American family returning home carries the same quiet observational warmth. Hong Chau is luminous, and the film honors complicated family dynamics without scoring easy emotional points.

But Some viewers find its restrained approach to grief emotionally distant rather than moving.

Moonlight2016

Three chapters of a boy becoming a man, told with visual poetry and silences that speak louder than dialogue. Like Driveways, it trusts you to feel what isn't explicitly stated, building intimacy through careful observation.

But The fragmented structure and lack of plot momentum confuse viewers expecting a conventional narrative arc.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Driveways

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Straight Story1999

Both films trust the audience to find depth in aging, in movement through space, in reconciliation that arrives quietly if at all. They make gentleness feel earned.

David Lynch made this film about an elderly man driving a lawnmower across Iowa to reconcile with his brother. It moves at the pace of its subject, finding the profound in landscape and the possibility of forgiveness. Lynch at his most humanist and least ironized.

But From a director known for surrealism, it's straight-ahead and slow in ways that feel like a deliberate test of patience for some viewers.

August: Osage County2013

Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in a multigenerational family reckoning set in rural Oklahoma. Family damage and repair, rendered with dark humor and unflinching specificity about how people actually hurt each other.

But Relentlessly dysfunctional family dynamics and some overwrought dramatic beats may feel heavy-handed if you prefer subtlety.

Boyhood2014

Twelve years, one boy, shot in fragments across time. The same commitment to watching a life unfold without dramatic machinery, finding weight in the accumulation of ordinary days and small conversations.

But Three hours, minimal plot, and a shooting method that demands patience from viewers who need dramatic structure to stay engaged.

A Ghost Story2017

Casey Affleck as a man haunting his house after death, watching time move around him. Meditative and strange, it shares Driveways' willingness to sit with loneliness and the desire to matter after you're gone.

But Surreal and deliberately paced in ways that can feel pretentious; a sheet-covered ghost is a high-concept premise some find gimmicky.

Manchester by the Sea2016

Kenneth Lonergan's portrait of grief, duty, and broken connection between a man and his nephew. Like Driveways, it refuses easy redemption or closure, finding truthfulness in people who don't know how to fix what's broken.

But Unrelentingly bleak in its emotional landscape; the lack of uplift exhausts some viewers rather than moving them.

The Pursuit of Happyness2006

Will Smith and his son playing a father and boy in genuine economic freefall, finding moments of joy and connection amid desperation. Parent-child bonds forged by circumstance rather than choice, rendered without manipulation.

But A more conventional narrative arc and some sentimental beats that undercut the rawer material may feel formulaic compared to Driveways' restraint.

Beginners2011

Christopher Plummer gives a luminous performance as a man discovering himself late in life; Ewan McGregor as his son processes what he learns. Multi-timeline structure exploring how we know and fail to know the people closest to us.

But Fractured chronology and a somewhat precious indie aesthetic can feel self-consciously artistic rather than genuinely moving.

The Florida Project2017

Both films understand that summer childhood and adult loneliness are the same story told from different angles. They watch close-up, without flinching or false hope.

Sean Baker's film about a child and his mother living in poverty in a motel outside Disney World, shot with the warmth and specificity of lived experience. Orange-soaked, joyful despite everything, it sees childhood and adult struggle with equal humanity.

But The ending is devastating and offers no resolution; the film refuses to make poverty picturesque or redemptive.