Review of Learning to Drive

This film had potential with Kingsley in the role as the instructor, which I thought was going to have a charming Driving-Miss-Daisy vibe. Unfortunately, this film gives rise to some really awful stereotypes and uncomfortable viewing, such as the instructor hitting on his student because she seems worldly and sophisticated compared to his dowdy Indian bride (who he treats with misogynistic contempt). Patricia Clarkson (who is one of the most incredibly bland actors) plays a highly respected literary critic who apparently is going through a really 'costly divorce', yet has the money to buy herself a beautiful apartment and a very nice looking brand new car straight from the showroom floor. She's a pretty white blonde who is still turning heads and getting some great sex during the divorce, meanwhile, the Indian instructor encounters crude racism and having his flatmates deported. He doesn't step up in his career as a University Professor 'because he is a Sheikh'. Whilst racism like this may exist, reinforcing these stereotypes through the trope of white privilege and normalising it really disconnected me from this film.