We Couldn't Become Adults

A man in his forties sees an old friend request on social media and starts going back into his past. The narrative runs backwards: from today to the 2000s, and from there to the 1990s. At each stop there is a relationship, and in each one the man is a little less of a person. Furthest back, at the end of the 1990s, stand the years he spent with Kaori; both of them wanted to do something then and neither did. Yoshihiro Mori's film adapts a novel by Moegara. The reverse chronology is the idea of the narrative: because we know the outcome, what is lost becomes clearer with every step back. The film does not make nostalgia warm. Mirai Moriyama plays the man and Sairi Ito plays Kaori. Tokyo in the 1990s and the music of the period are an important part of the narrative. Who it's for: Viewers who like Japanese drama, reverse-chronology narratives, and portraits of a generation. Who it's not for: The protagonist is deliberately passive and will be unbearable to some. The structure also comes apart in the second half.