Actor and
theater director Yūsuke Kafuku is married to Oto, a screenwriter. Oto conceives her stories during sex and narrates them to Yūsuke. After watching her husband in a performance of Waiting for Godot, Oto introduces
Yūsuke to her frequent collaborator, the young
actor Kōji Takatsuki. When
Yūsuke returns home early one day, he finds his wife having sex with a young man, presumably
Takatsuki. He leaves silently without being noticed and does not bring it up with her. One day, as
Yūsuke is leaving for work, Oto tells him she wants to talk to him later that evening. Yūsuke returns home late to find Oto dead from a brain hemorrhage. After her funeral,
Yūsuke has a breakdown during a performance of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and is unable to continue the show.
Two years later,
Yūsuke accepts a residency in Hiroshima, where he will direct a multilingual adaptation of Uncle Vanya.
Yūsuke casts
Kōji, whose career has recently been hurt by improper conduct, as Uncle Vanya despite his young age and concerns for his erratic behavior. The theater company requires that
Yūsuke not drive but be chauffeured in his own car, a red 1987 Saab 900 Turbo. He objects at first, but relents after the reserved young
female chauffeur, Misaki Watari, reveals herself to be a skilled driver.
One night,
Yūsuke meets with
Kōji at a bar, where
Kōji admits to loving Oto but claims it was an unrequited love. During their drives,
Yūsuke and
Misaki begin to bond as
Yūsuke tells her about Oto and the loss of their daughter, who would have been Misaki's age.
Misaki tells him about her abusive mother who died in a mudslide five years earlier that crushed the family's house, during which she sustained an injury that left a prominent scar on her left cheek.
After another outing at a bar,
Yūsuke criticizes
Kōji's lack of self control. As they're leaving,
Kōji slips away briefly to follow a man who had been taking photos of him without permission. During their drive home,
Yūsuke reveals to
Kōji that he knew of his wife's affairs but kept quiet for fear of losing her.
Kōji shares one of Oto's stories that
Yūsuke had never heard in its entirety. Some days later, the police arrive at a rehearsal and arrest
Kōji because the photographer he fought with has now died from the injuries he sustained in their fight. The directors of the residency offer
Yūsuke a choice: either step into the role of Vanya or cancel the play altogether.
Yūsuke asks
Misaki to take him to her childhood home in Hokkaido. During their car trip,
Misaki reveals that she could have saved her mother in the mudslide, but chose not to.
Yūsuke reveals that he might have saved his wife had he come home to face the discussion she wanted to have. They arrive at the remains of
Misaki's childhood home and share a tender moment. They comfort each other and then return to Hiroshima, where
Yūsuke assumes the role of Vanya and gives an impassioned performance before a live audience which includes
Misaki.
In the present day,
Misaki finishes shopping for groceries in Korea and gets into the red Saab, where a dog waits for her in the back seat. She takes off her mask, revealing that her scar is now barely visible, and drives away.