Synopsis
Lu meets up with Sakura looking for a job, and proposes filming porn, as there are fewer jobs around due to Covid-19. Yuka, an SNS influencer, asks people to ‘stay home’ but is not aware of the fact her boyfriend Manabu is involved in same-sex prostitution. Hisano continues a cold marriage with her husband, a restaurant owner who suffered a lot from Covid. The lives of everyone, devastated by the declaration of a state of emergency, intersect late one night. The film was produced in April 2020, having overcome peer pressure stronger than a blockade order, mainly from youths who could be called the pioneers of the next generation of Japanese independent movies. The shocking lines and desolate streets blend with surrealist interiors to produce a group performance that is more than a mere documentary. The director uses Covid as only ‘a detonator’ to disclose a hidden contradiction rather than an ultimate blow. (HONG Sanghyun)