‘On the Drive’ is directed by Artem Lytvynenko (‘The Sniffer’). The main characters are four friends who discover abandoned sports cars in the parking lot of a shopping mall
About the film’s plot and themes
The film is set in Kharkiv during russia’s full-scale invasion. After finding the cars, the protagonists organize a ‘racing arena’ on the grounds of a shopping mall that was abandoned due to the shelling.
‘What began as an escape from reality quickly turns into a game without rules — with stakes, fame, and danger’, the description reads.
According to the film’s team, the central theme of ‘On the Drive’ is freedom and the choice ‘to feel life here and now, even when chaos surrounds you’.
The film’s producer Aliona Tymoshenko adds that racing was chosen as a way to explore the theme because it ‘very accurately’ conveys what Ukrainians are feeling:
‘It’s about speed, the desire to seize the moment, about not letting circumstances ‘put you on pause’. In war, it’s very easy to get stuck in fear and waiting. Racing is the complete opposite: movement, decision-making, risk. And there’s something very honest in that. Because freedom is not an abstraction — it’s a state you sometimes create for yourself. Even in an underground parking lot’.
While filming ‘On the Drive’, the team aimed to show how young Ukrainians live during the war: ‘not only their fears, but also their desires, dreams, drive, mistakes, and courage’.
About the filming process
The film is being shot in Kharkiv and Kyiv, often during air raid alerts and shelling. The final Kharkiv shoot, for instance, took place in the metro and involved background actors.
During filming, russia attacked the city with guided aerial bombs, and one of the strikes occurred near a metro entrance.
‘That night, the russians attacked Kharkiv with guided aerial bombs, and a strike hit very close to the metro station. Three members of our team sustained minor injuries from shattered glass while heading down into the metro, and vehicles belonging to the technical crew were also damaged. However, once the air raid alert was over, we continued filming’, Tymoshenko recalls.
Safety was also a top priority while filming the racing scenes with extras in Kyiv: ‘There were more than two hundred people on set, with stunt performers racing through at high speeds. It required pinpoint precision’.
Photos: DTF Magazine
In the scenes of ‘On the Drive’, the driving is handled by both actors — trained to look confident while driving — and professional stunt performers who are champions in motorsport.
Among them are stunt drivers Kyrylo Kalandyrets, Oleksandr Sarakieiev, Vitalii Herashchenko, Dmytro Nekliaiev, as well as stunt coordinators Petro Triesko and Ruslan Horilyi.
‘We wanted to make the first real racing film in Ukraine — not a cheap imitation, but a real genre action movie we can be proud of’, the producer says.
Why racing films haven’t been made in Ukraine before
Answering the question of why racing films had not previously been made in Ukraine, Aliona Tymoshenko explains this by pointing to the complexity and high cost of such projects:
‘Few people were willing to take the risk. Films like this require specialized equipment, stunt performers, safety protocols, professional drivers, and high-tech gear. It’s a major challenge for any industry — especially ours. But now, it seems to me, we’re all in a state where we want to do bold things. Ukraine today is, in general, about courage.
That’s exactly why this film was born now. We felt ready. And we made a film that our audience has been waiting for for a long time — even if they didn’t yet know it’.
Photos: DTF Magazine
The release of ‘On the Drive’ is scheduled for spring 2026.
