My Broken Mariko

Eating lunch at the office, Shiino sees an item on the television: her childhood friend Mariko has killed herself. Nobody told her. She goes to the family's house and sees Mariko's father there; the man beat his daughter for years. Shiino grabs the box with the ashes and walks out. She has a box in her hands and no plan. Then she remembers something: Mariko once said she wanted to go to the sea. She gets on a bus and heads north. Yuki Tanada directs. The film is adapted from the manga by Waka Hirako. Mei Nagano and Nao are in the cast. It is a Japanese production. The matter it treats is anger that comes too late; Shiino has nobody to be angry at and is looking for somewhere to put it. The film shows the abuse in flashback and does not prolong the scenes. The narrative uses the shape of a road film and Shiino talks to herself throughout the journey. Mei Nagano plays the character coarse, dishevelled and furious, far from her usual roles. The film does not try to tidy the grief and offers no consolation. The narrative takes in a stranger met on the road and keeps that line short. The section by the sea at the end is the only calm place in it. The ending gives a scene of farewell. Its limit is scale; the narrative is short, little happens, and the subject is heavy. Who it is for: viewers who like Japanese independent drama and stories about grief. Who it is not for: it is heavy, sorrowful, and the ending bitter.