Plot: Sano goes back to the hotel where he met his wife five years prior. He wants to find the hat she lost, a prized memorabilia of his now passed away wife. Nobody seems to be able to help him, as he revisits the places that marked their first encounter. While the hat remains lost, the trip brings back happy memories.
Watches
July 20, 2025
Show me a list of all Japanese films released in 2024, and this probably wouldn't be amongst the first 100 picks if I had to guess which film would be released in Belgium the next year. But here we are. It's a perfectly fine Japanese drama. I didn't mind watching this in a local theater, but I couldn't find anything here that makes it stand out from dozens of similar dramas released each year.
The dramatic part comes first, which lays the groundwork for the flashback that comprises the second half of the film. It's a pleasant structure that helps to highlight many seemingly mundane moments, which end up carrying a great deal of meaning. The performances are solid, the presentation is decent, and the runtime is perfect. But you can watch Leave in Summer instead, it sports a very similar premise, and it's easily the better of the two. The only difference is that it didn't have a French production company pushing the film in Europe.