Film

Joyride

Name: Joyride
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Crime
Released: 2022
Cast: Olivia Colman, Charlie Reid, Lochlann Ó Mearáin, Olwen Fouéré, Florence Adebambo

Other titles called Joyride: the 1997 film.

A Irish road movie about a grieving boy who hijacks a taxi and meets a reluctant mother fleeing her own life. Director Emer Costello finds dark humour and genuine tenderness in two broken people driving toward different futures. It's uneven but sincere—funny and devastating in unpredictable measure, for viewers who like their comedies salty with pain.

TMDb rating

3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like grubby road movies where a grieving kid and a prickly adult stumble through bad decisions, with the comedy arriving from character rather than gags.

Skip it if you want tidy plotting, since this is a loose, lingering affair that dwells on quiet awkwardness and sad domestic detail more than momentum.

What it asks of you: At ninety-four minutes it moves in brisk bursts, veering from tenderness to farce mid-scene, so it rewards staying alert to abrupt tonal swerves.

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

If you liked this

Hunt for the Wilderpeople2016

A New Zealand boy-and-outsider road movie with the same blend of scrappy charm, grief underneath the jokes, and a landscape that feels like a character. Taika Waititi balances comedy and heartbreak without ever winking at the camera.

But It's gentler than Joyride and leans more openly into whimsy. If you want pure emotional rawness, this one occasionally softens its edges.

The Banshees of Inisherin2022

Two Irish men, a friendship ending, dark humour meeting real loss. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson do something close to what Colman does here—make you laugh and ache simultaneously. It shares the same blood.

But It's slower, more claustrophobic, and the tone is chillier. There's less movement and more sitting with discomfort.

Petite Maman2021

A French film about a girl meeting her mother as a child. Like Joyride, it's a small, strange journey about people running from their lives and finding unexpected grace. Tender without being sentimental.

But It's quieter and more fantastical. The magical realism won't work for everyone, and it's very interior—not a road movie in the external sense.

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Sing Street2016

Both are Irish films that use movement and music to process family collapse; one goes dark, one reaches for light. Together they're a conversation about whether we survive.

Dublin, 1985: a boy forms a band to win a girl. It's also a film about fractured families, escape, and music as salvation. Like Joyride, it finds absurdist comedy in the wreckage of Irish life, but reaches toward something hopeful instead of staying broken.

But It's a musical with '80s pastiche. If ironic nostalgia and covers of famous songs make you groan, the tone will feel false.

Moonlight2016

Three chapters of a boy becoming a man, fractured and tender. It has Joyride's understanding that comedy and pain live in the same room, and that broken people can offer each other real kindness.

But It's meditative and slow. There's no running, no action—just presence. Some find it too quiet.

Aftersun2022

A father and daughter on holiday; a film about love that can't quite save you. Like Joyride, it trusts you to feel what's underneath the surface without spelling it out. Quietly devastating.

But It's oblique and asks you to do interpretive work. The ending is ambiguous in a way that frustrates some viewers.

The Florida Project2017

A child's view of homelessness and resilience; funny and sad in the same breath. Sean Baker captures how kids find joy in nothing, which is what Mully does. Both films trust children to be complicated.

But It's set in a motel in Orlando—deliberately unglamorous. The hand-held camera can feel shaky and the pacing is loose.

Minari2021

A Korean family pursuing a dream in Arkansas; it finds humour in struggle and shows how people bind together when everything is falling apart. Same moral temperature as Joyride.

But It's quieter and more dispersed—no single plot driving it forward. The pacing is deliberate, which some read as slow.

Lamb2021

An Icelandic couple who lose a child and find a lamb; strange, funny, heartbreaking. It has Joyride's willingness to be weird and sad simultaneously, and its trust in mood over explanation.

But It's surreal and oblique. The premise sounds absurd and the film doesn't always make literal sense. Not for viewers who need clarity.

The Rider2018

A young man after a near-fatal accident tries to stay in the world he's always known. Chloé Zhao makes something quiet and true about resilience. It shares Joyride's understanding of characters who won't be fixed.

But It's extremely slow and largely plotless. Long stretches ask you to sit with someone who doesn't speak much. Patience required.

A Prophet2009

Both track a young protagonist's education in how the world actually works. Both find unexpected grace in amoral characters. One is funny, one is pitiless—same underneath.

A French prison film where a young man rises through violence and cunning. It has none of Joyride's lightness, but shares the deep structure: a boy learning to survive, discovering that kindness and brutality live in the same person, finding an unexpected companion in darkness.

But It's a hard crime film with graphic violence. The world is brutal and there's no mercy, only strategic loyalty. Not a comfort watch.