Coming Home

Ryuta Inoue's 2020 Japanese film follows Mitsuomi, who leaves his job and returns to his home town after ten years. The town is small and familiar, and he meets Yamato, who works on a farm near his parents' house. The film does not hurry the relationship. Work in the fields, the neighbours and the gossip of the town sit inside the narrative; the two grow close within that daily flow and no one names it. The narrative produces no conflict and does not go towards scenes of exclusion. The tone is calm, the pace low and the landscape photography takes wide space. The cast is largely young. Who it's for: those who like quiet Japanese drama and light queer narratives. Who it's not for: viewers waiting for an event; the film is almost entirely everyday life.