Synopsis
Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.
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Cast
- Hidetoshi NishijimaYūsuke Kafuku
- Toko MiuraMisaki Watari
- Masaki OkadaKōshi Takatsuki
- Reika KirishimaOto Kafuku
- Park Yu-rimLee Yoo-na
- Jin Dae-yeonGong Yoon-su
- Sonia YuanJanice Chang
- Ahn Hwi-taeRyu Jong-ui
- Perry DizonRoy Rossello
- Satoko AbeYuzuhara
Recommendations
- 100
The Guardian
Where once Hamaguchi’s film-making language had seemed to me at the level of jeu d’esprit, now it ascends to something with passion and even a kind of grandeur. - 100
Los Angeles Times
Nearly every scene of this richly novelistic movie — which won the festival’s screenplay prize — teems with ideas about grief and betrayal, the nature of acting, the possibility (and impossibility) of catharsis through art, and the simple bliss of watching lights and landscapes fly past your car window. - 91
The Playlist
Despite what may initially seem to be a somewhat straightforward contemporary drama, Hamaguchi has crafted a rich, skilfully layered masterwork with flawless performances and a script that is a screenwriter’s holy grail. It sticks in your brain for days and nudges you to take it in again. - 91
The Film Stage
It’s a graceful, aching film that sculpts and stretches Murakami’s story into an enchanting three-hour epic (my, do the minutes fly by) about trauma and mourning, shared solitude, and the possibility of moving on. The narrative also doubles as a lovely ode to the car itself, and the strange ways that people open up when cocooned inside them. - 90
Variety
Hamaguchi’s filmmaking, always accomplished, reaches new heights of refinement and sensory richness here, principally via Shinomiya’s immaculate, opaline lensing. - 83
IndieWire
The result is a low-key but lingeringly resonant tale about a strange chapter in the life of a grieving theater director — an intimate stage whisper of a film in which every scene feels like a secret. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
There are poetic and profound rewards here, even if Hamaguchi makes us wait too long for this quietly devastating emotional pay-off. - 80
Screen Daily
Hamaguchi has taken Murakami’s original story as a springboard rather than a strict template, changing and adding locations, inventing additional characters and boosting the importance of others.
