Hold Me Back

Akiko Ohku's 2020 Japanese film is about a woman of thirty-one living alone. Mitsuko is content with her life; she cooks alone, travels alone and makes her decisions by consulting a voice in her head she calls A. A tells her what to do and the arrangement has worked for years. Meeting a younger man upsets that balance, and as she starts wanting to approach someone the voice grows more uneasy. The film neither exalts loneliness nor finds it pitiable, showing how hard it is to decide to leave an order one has built oneself. The account is made largely of inner voices and daily detail, with the cooking scenes filmed with care. Non's performance carries the whole film. Who it's for: viewers who like calm Japanese drama and films about solitude. Who it's not for: anyone expecting plot; the film is built of small moments.