“TOKYO NIGHTFALL“RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. VUE CINEMA LOWER REGENT STREET. FESTIVAL UNTIL 26 JUNE INCLUSIVE OF THAT DATE. Google for performance times. 79 Minutes . Nominated by Raindance for Best International Feature of this festival

Due to be released across Japan on 31 July the film covers a lonely delivery rider Anemashi who is trying to come to terms with his sister’s suicide. Directed by Yuto Shimozo and with a large cast, its screening at Raindance is a World Premiere. It is a dark film with a moving and negative philosophy about life and death and gives an eery off beat impression of life in Tokyo.

As the story unwinds there are echoes pertaining to the genre of the Kamikaze style of story telling and also the concept of the Samurai comes to mind with its mantra – Death Before Dishonor. The observation is simply my own interpretation as a European viewer however!

There are clips of counsellors giving help to young people and asking what their favorite moments are. One says it is drinking on the rooftops, another claims it is having a ciggie after performing cunnilingus. One of the people counseled is one of four siblings but the only one with a different father. The counseling prepares a backdrop for the characters who are drawn deep into a negative cult of which there is a slim or no chance of escape. I will not divulge more in this review as it would amount to a spoiler alert entirely! A comment – “but there is strength in staying a victim” another one – “if you die you lose” haunt the viewer with memories perhaps relating to Squid Games as the plot descends into a total Film Noir death fest. One of the family begs for help if they leave her alone but wants distance if the family get closer. Why do I leave this comment til the end of the review? Because by the end of the film there is a whole new avenue of questions mounting up as to the people who have to deal with the goings on spelt out in the story and there are no SFX , fantasy characters or sci-fi I themes included. All in all be prepared for a story which is set in today’s times and extremely melancholy and negative and yes – there is pill popping included, loud pop music and dancing with flashing lights and a few gangsters and lots of ciggie smoking. And my last comment – take some tissues to the viewing – you may feel the need for them!

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