Koichi is a twelve-year-old boy raised secluded from the normal world within the confines of a sinister religious sect named Nirvana. When the cult is disbanded following a murderous gas attack on the Tokyo subway, he is separated from his mother and sister by the authorities and placed into child welfare. Rebellious, angry, and defiant, Koichi breaks free from care and sets off across the country with the aim of tracing the remnants of his scattered family. He soon meets with Yuki, a young girl from a broken home who has suffered at the hands of an abusive father. Yuki agrees to accompany him on his quest, but, unable to break free from the religious dogma he has received at the hands of the cult, Koichi’s aggressive and strange behaviour soon threatens to drive her away. Escaping from an environment in which his identity has been forcibly stifled, Koichi is forced to decide what his role in society is. Shiota’s film, while clearly inspired by the real-life killings of the Aum Shinrikyo cult in 1995, continues to explore themes present in his previous works of children pitched into adult worlds cast adrift in societies where the influence of the older generation is more destructive than benign. With his superbly acted and beautifully shot most recent work, he once again proves himself to be one of a rare handful of directors with something crucial to say about contemporary society. JS
