After the death of his wife, Kenzaburō receives an unexpected letter from beyond the grave. His late wife asks him to travel to Lake Windermere in England with their son to scatter her ashes. Plagued by sweet and painful memories of his wife, Kenzaburō travels to England from Tokyo to fulfill her final wish, but the father and son's fraught relationship threatens to upend their journey.
Acting
Lily Franky's face does more work than most scripts.
Cinematography
Lake Windermere shot like a character who refuses to comfort anyone.
Writing
Dialogue so sparse you hear every swallowed word.
Director
Patrick Dickinson
Lily Franky
Kenzaburō
Ryo Nishikido
Toshi
Tae Kimura
Akiko
Rin Takanashi
Satsuki
Aoife Hinds
Mary
Ciarán Hinds
John
Yuri Tsunematsu
Young Akiko
Isy Suttie
Olivia - Hen Party
Thomas Coombes
Arthur
Yuki Matsuzaki
Fishmonger
Angus Barnett
Ice Cream Seller
Miki Maya
Akiko's Mother
Dave Simon
Mr. David
Koshi Uehara
Patrick Dickinson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film deliberately contrasts Japanese restraint with English politeness, two cultures spectacularly failing to bridge emotional gaps.
Patrick Dickinson spent years developing this after his own experience with cross-cultural grief; the Lake District weather delays were written into the script after actual production shutdowns.
JP
GB
