JFF 2025

A shaky third act aside, this adaptation of pseudo-BL author Wayama Yama's work provides enough laughs while skirting more than a few lines to have you asking what exactly it is you're watching. Nogi Akiko does what she can with the source material, you just wonder if this should have been a series instead. (6/10)

Another arresting work by Koreeda. Indulgent, perhaps, but Sakamoto Yuji finds a way to re-fashion Rashomon for contemporary social ills without entirely collapsing under the weight of its ambitions. (8.5/10)

At times delightful, and then haunting, this is a rollercoaster of emotions that much like life itself begs us to soak it all in, with a masterful performance by Yakusho Koji in both the physical and emotional. It feels like everyone in my cinema was looking at their own reflection by the end. No notes; a perfect film. (10/10)