He kidnapped himself to find his real mother. What he found was way more complicated.
Born into a wealthy family, 17-year-old Masato (Emoto Tasuku) has never been deprived of material comforts, but his distant relationship with his parents leaves him empty and rebellious. Telling himself that his real mother is actually a woman who kidnapped him as an infant, Masato takes off to Okinawa to find her. Curious to learn more about her (Matsuyuki Yasuko), he ends up staying to work at her restaurant. As the two grow closer over time, an ambiguous relationship develops, not quite mother and son, not quite lovers.
Acting
Matsuyuki's restrained hunger; Emoto's beautiful disaster of a boy.
Cinematography
Okinawa as liminal space—neither escape nor home.
Direction
Wakamatsu lets the taboo breathe without exploiting it.
Director
Setsuro Wakamatsu
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on a Naoki Prize-winning novel by Shuichi Yoshida, who specializes in families that eat each other alive. The Okinawa setting deliberately echoes Japanese cinema's tradition of using the islands as sites of spiritual and social exile.
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