Movie · 2023 · Adventure, Drama, Action · 2h 15m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 3.8/10 (549K ratings)
From gamer to racer.
Overview
The ultimate wish-fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.8/10
IMDb: 7.1/10
Letterboxd: 3.36/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Metacritic: 48
TMDB: 7.7/10
Director
Neill Blomkamp
Production
PlayStation Productions, 2.0 Entertainment, Columbia Pictures
Cast
Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Djimon Hounsou, Darren Barnet, Maeve Courtier-Lilley, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Daniel Puig, Josha Stradowski, Thomas Kretschmann, Emelia Hartford, Pepe Barroso, Sang Heon Lee, Maximilian Mundt, Mariano González, Lindsay Pattison, Théo Christine, Nikhil Parmar, Richard Cambridge, Takehiro Hira
Where to watch
Hulu, fuboTV, Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy underdog sports drama with a strong true-story hook and some effective racing spectacle, but it leans heavily on formula and brand-friendly uplift. If you want a crowd-pleasing, accessible motorsport movie, it delivers; if you need depth, edge, or realism, it may feel too polished.
Best for
racing fans
viewers who like true-story sports dramas
audiences wanting an inspirational feel-good movie
gamers curious about a crossover premise
fans of slick, high-speed action
Skip if
you dislike inspirational underdog formulas
you want gritty or emotionally complex sports dramas
heavy product placement bothers you
you are not interested in motorsport or gaming culture
Overview
Gran Turismo is built like a victory lap: cleanly engineered, emotionally straightforward, and designed to make the audience root for the impossible. The real-life premise gives it a built-in charge, and the racing sequences have enough speed and physicality to sell the fantasy of a gamer becoming a driver.
Worth noting
What keeps it from fully crossing the finish line is how familiar the storytelling feels. It hits the expected beats of doubt, training, setback, and triumph with little room for surprise, and the corporate sheen can make the whole thing feel more like a premium ad campaign than a lived-in drama.
Bottom line
Still, the movie works as a polished piece of crowd-pleasing entertainment. If you come for the engine roar, the underdog momentum, and the wish-fulfillment of a fantasy becoming real, it’s an easy watch.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Kit Lazer (3.5★) · 10562 likes
Just wait til the military finds out how good I am at Call Of Duty.
Luke (3★) · 5797 likes
There’s no way 10 of the world’s best gamers were that hot
dumbsville (2.5★) · 5750 likes
This was like watching a Christian film only instead of learning to believe in Jesus, the characters learn to believe in PlayStation.
Jay (2.5★) · 2688 likes
literally me if nissan scouted people who are fucking sick at coconut mall
Sydney🚀 (3.5★) · 2536 likes
During the first act of Gran Turismo: 🤨😴
During the rest of Gran Turismo: HE WENT FROM GAMER TO RACER?!!💙🎉🎉
2019 · Drama, Action, History · 2h 33m · PG-13 · Curator 8.4/10 (1.5M ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Another polished true-story motorsport film that balances technical racing detail with crowd-pleasing momentum.