On the third anniversary of a cult's failed chemical attack on Tokyo and their subsequent mass suicide, family members of those affected gather at the cult's former base on the shores of a lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.
Direction
Kore-eda's invisible hand—observing without judging
Cinematography
Lake mist that mirrors emotional fog
Acting
Ensemble chemistry of strangers bound by horror
Director
Hirokazu Kore-eda
Arata Iura
Atsushi Mizuhara
Yūsuke Iseya
Masaru Enoki
Susumu Terajima
Minoru Kai
Yui Natsukawa
Kiyoka Yamamoto
Tadanobu Asano
Sakata
Azusa Takehana
Azusa
Kenichi Endo
Tamaki Yamamoto
Seminosuke Murasugi
Miyamura
Baijaku Nakamura
Detective Kikuma
Ryo
Yuko
Kanji Tsuda
Masaru's Elder Brother
Yorie Yamashita
Minoru's ex-wife
Ikuji Nakamura
Real Boss
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Inspired by the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo sarin attacks; Kore-eda deliberately waited years to avoid exploitation.
The cult members' possible survival is intentionally ambiguous—Kore-eda wanted audiences to confront their own desire for narrative resolution.
JP
