Ride or Die

Couples who do crime is a favourite trope for me, especially if it’s queer. But of course, being excited for something maximizes the chances of being let down by something. I regret to inform you that Ride or Die let me down.

Ride or Die’s lead characters are Rei and Nanae. Rei begins the film with a steady girlfriend and job at a plastic surgery. Then, she gets a call from high school friend Nanae. Nanae’s husband is severely abusing her and she turns to Rei out of desperation. Furious at the treatment of her former friend and long time crush, Rei murders Nanae’s husband. Nanae picks her up following the deed which makes her an accessory to the murder. So, Rei and Nanae go on the run. During their time on the run, we get flashbacks to their early relationship in high school. In the present, Rei and Nanae struggle through Rei’s attraction to Nanae, Rei’s numerous personality flaws and their combined fatalistic attitude towards the situation.

Ride or Die features extremely flawed lead characters. Especially Rei. Obviously, character flaws are good. But Rei’s character flaws make her difficult to accept as a passionate, romantic lead. Rei is abusive and manipulative. It’s an ongoing point that because her family is rich, she thinks she can have anything without effort. This includes Nanae. In a flashback, teenage Nanae says she cannot afford to attend their school without a scholarship. So, Rei offers to pay for her tuition in a non-platonic sense. In the present, Rei at one point flies off the handle and hits Nanae. This scene also includes Rei’s anger that she might go to jail for killing Nanae’s husband without fucking her first. She later apologizes and says hitting Nanae made her feel awful and she won’t do it again. You probably shouldn’t have hit your abused friend in the first place, Rei.

This is supposed to be a passionate, desperate love story. And sadly, this is a case where the extremes of the love story try and fail to disguise the fact that Rei and Nanae’s relationship is not solid. Just because you carry a torch for someone from ten years or someone murders your abusive husband doesn’t mean you’re well suited to a relationship. When they’re actively on the run and planning how to stay free, Rei and Nanae’s relationship is solid and almost joyous. But in quiet moments of security, the relationship constantly breaks down, sometimes into physical violence. The fun of a crime spree relationship is a romantic couple staying strong through extreme situations. With Rei and Nanae however, I don’t think this relationship would work without said extreme situations.

There is more than one moment in the film that absolutely screams that a man directed this movie about women. The most glaring instance comes at the end when Rei and Nanae finally have sex. Rei tells Nanae, “it must be nice for men, having something to put inside you. My fingers can’t fill you up.” Thanks, I hate it! Not necessarily connected to the director’s gender but I also didn’t like the way that Rei chose to kill Nanae’s husband. Rei poses as a prostitute and kills Nanae’s husband during sex. I’m tired of this. There are lots of ways to commit murder without having your intended victim penetrate you first. I don’t necessarily mind sexy elements to a movie but in this case, they didn’t vibe with me as they felt too salacious and male gaze-y.

Despite my many critiques, I can’t call Ride or Die an out and out bad movie. It’s too competent for that. It holds together over two hours. That’s a feat in and of itself. Additionally, it’s visually pleasing. I liked looking at this movie a lot even though I often didn’t like what it was actually saying. The quality of direction and the sweet Netflix sheen of budget and competence holds this mediocre screenplay together. Still, I was disappointed at the lack of depth to this over two hour crime spree romance. Lots of Ride or Die felt like a missed opportunity of the most irritating sort; one that gets very close to being good but doesn’t quite get there.

Overall rating: 5.5/10

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