[4][5] Based on a real-life story, the film centers on a taxi driver from Seoul who unintentionally becomes involved in the events of the Gwangju Uprising in 1980.

[6] It was very positively received by critics, who praised its unique approach to depicting the Gwangju Uprising events, emotional weight, as well as the main character and his relationship with Hinzpeter, and was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.

The Gwangju Uprising was a result of a continuous power tug-of-war between the authoritarian government and the citizens of South Korea – mainly college students – that were advocating for democracy.

According to scholar Jang Se Young from the Wilson Center, "books related to Gwangju were strictly censored or prohibited from even being published.

[15] Andrew David Jackson of Cambridge University argued that Jürgen Hinzpeter's relationship with South Korea's democratization movement "have become important weapons for the activist generation in an ongoing struggle over the memorialization of the Gwangju Uprising.

"[14] Candlelight protests through the fall and winter of 2016-17 marked the thirtieth year of significant democratic advancement in South Korean history, compared to the setting in which A Taxi Driver took place.

[16] Harvard sociology professor Paul Y. Chang argued in 2018 in KOAJ that "the contemporary candlelight protest industry draws on organizational and cultural resources first established in past democracy movements.

[15] Similar to the past, where newspaper articles and mass media coverage in South Korea was heavily monitored and censored, this movie faced obstacles as it reached its release date due to the former government's implications.

Distressed about his young daughter and unable to contact her, Man-seob departs for Seoul the next morning with the fake Gwangju license plates Tae-soo has given him.

DSC officers give chase but the local taxi drivers intervene to allow Man-seob and Peter to escape at the cost of their lives.

The film ends by stating that the real Peter passed away in 2016 without ever locating Man-seob, followed by a video of him expressing his thanks to "Kim Sa-bok" and his wish to see him again.

[28][29] On 13 August 2017, South Korean President Moon Jae-in viewed A Taxi Driver with Edeltraut Brahmstaedt, the widow of Jürgen Hinzpeter, and her family.

[30] A Blue House official said, "The movie shows how a foreign reporter's efforts contributed to Korea's democratization, and President Moon saw the film to honor Hinzpeter in respect for what he did for the country.

The website's critical consensus reads "A Taxi Driver brings a ground-level perspective and a refreshingly light touch to a fact-based story with sobering implications.

[b] Sohing Yi Chan of Off Screen pointed out A Taxi Driver "as a film depicting a historical trauma", let the international audience, especially those who were not familiar with the event, be able to learn more about the truth.

[33] Jennie Kermode of Eye For Film shared the relevant ideas that the director didn't ignore the peaceful and lovely moments besides the violent, panic and horrible scenes, and it created a contrast in emotion and let audience keep shocking or plunge into consideration.

[36] Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com argued that Peter was depicted as a stiff supporting role to work for the narrative rather than a vivid character in the story, and each peak moment "feels too neat and schematic" that couldn't evoke sincere emotion.

[44][45] It has tied with The Admiral: Roaring Currents and The Battleship Island for the record of films which have surpassed four million viewers in the first five days of release.

[59] A Taxi Driver generally shows good accuracy on the memory of Gwangju Uprising, but several historical events depicted in the film are inaccurate or fictional.

[64] The massive car chase sequence in which the taxi drivers in Gwangju help Kim Man-seob and Hinzpeter escape did not happen.

However, other foreign news reporters including Henry Scott-Stokes from The New York Times and Terry A. Anderson from Associated Press were in Gwangju covering the movement.

[66] The film ends with footage of an interview from November 2015 with the real Jürgen Hinzpeter describing his fruitless efforts to find his driver Kim Sa-bok again, after the events of Gwangju.

[69] The real Kim Sa-bok had a long term working relationship as a driver for Jürgen Hinzpeter, since at least 1975, and had died of liver cancer on 19 December 1984, at the age of 54.

[70][71] Kim Sa-bok's death just a few years after the events depicted in the movie, and the fact that he was an independent driver not registered with any of the taxi companies were the reasons that Jürgen Hinzpeter had been unable to find him again when he returned later to Korea.