Directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
(Japan, 2023, 106 min., in Japanese with English subtitles, digital)
Thursday-Saturday, August 1-3, 7:00 p.m. (W)
Widower Takumi and his daughter live in Mizubiki Village, a place of bucolic serenity near Tokyo that is threatened by urban developers planning a glamping site. Takumi lives with his daughter Hana among the locals whose peaceful lives are at risk. Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s follow up to his Oscar-winning Drive My Car is a foreboding fable on humanity’s mysterious, mystical relationship with nature. As sinister gunshots echo from the forest, both the locals and representatives confront their life choices and the haunting consequences they have.