Han from the Fast & Furious franchise has spent years drifting sideways through corners. Now Sung Kang is doing it behind the camera, too. Folks, meet Drifter, a film that digs deep into the drifting culture and Han’s, no wait, I mean Sung Kang’s, directorial debut. He also penned and starred in the film. No, there’s no underground street racing culture in it.
Anyhoo, the first teaser for Drifter has just dropped, and it wastes exactly zero time explaining itself. It opens with dusty tracks, lonely highways, and a mood that says this is not another neon-lit street-racing sequel. Basically, it is anti-Need for Speed. This is drifting as a story about people who probably fix their own cars and keep their feelings in the glovebox.
Kang writes, directs, and stars in the film, which follows a racetrack janitor with unexpected drifting talent who gets one shot at competing professionally while confronting his past and learning to rely on a found family around him.
The teaser itself is short, but the tone is clear. Sunsets, empty desert roads, quiet garages, and one very purposeful AE86 hint that this movie cares about the culture, not just tire smoke. Of course, it had to be AE86, specifically the Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX—or Corolla GTS as it is known in the US domestic market, because Initial D made it so.
Anyways, the choice (of car) is not accidental. The hero car, nicknamed “Lola,” is a heavily built Toyota AE86 that evolves alongside the main character throughout the story. Well, that sounds very much like Initial D, if you ask me. Takumi’s tofu delivery car, which goes sideways, also evolved with the protagonist.
There is also something refreshing about how grounded the teaser feels. Instead of CGI chaos, it is all about real drivers, real machines, and real drift talent appearing throughout the film. The cast even includes well-known names from the drifting world, rather than actors pretending they know what “opposite lock” means.
If the teaser is anything to go by, Drifter is looking to have the best of both worlds: the racing spectacle that makes motorsports, motorsports, and a love letter to the community that made drifting what it is today. And that, my friends, might be exactly the kind of sideways story car culture has been waiting for.
Sung Kang is also putting his own money behind this film. And it shows. The production has gone all in on promotion, from sweepstakes to a global tour leading up to the release, and—wait for it—actual car specs. This is how serious the movie is about its hero car, Lola.
The official movie website even has a page dedicated to Lola’s specifications across all three stages of her build. She starts out nearly stock with a 4A-GE and TRD header, before eventually evolving into a much more serious machine featuring OS Giken components, a custom turbo setup, and Rocket Bunny aero. While many mainstream Hollywood movies have touched on car culture, only this film seems interested in catering to real enthusiasts and giving them what they actually want to know: the car.
Anyhoo, enough of words. Check out the teaser trailer:
Images: Driftermovie.com.
