Kotone Furukawa

Cloud

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Yoshii with a gun pointing towards the camera

What would online life be like if actions had consequences like they do in the real world? That seems to be the motivating energy behind Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud (Kuraudo), an overlong but fascinating thriller yanking a thread that’s visible from the start, though it takes a while to realise that it’s there. Ryôsuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda) has a traditional job in a factory making stuff. His boss likes him and wants to promote him, setting him off on a safe, decent and traditional career. But there is more to Yoshii’s life than the day job. He also has a side hustle buying distressed goods at knockdown prices and selling them online for a … Read more

Best Wishes to All

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A dead old man lies on the ground

What is the price of living an OK life? Best Wishes to All offers a bleak answer to a question few ever really ask. Whether it’s also a funny answer depends on how much grim you can tolerate. Takashi Shimizu, director of Ju On: The Grudge, is its producer, which might give you an inkling as to which way things are going. J-horror: the next generation. All is peace and light initially. A Japanese family eating dinner around a low table. Young parents with their parents and their daughter, who wakes up in the night to go to the bathroom and thinks she sees something – what though? – peering around a door. … Read more