When working actor Takashi receives a jarring call from the police, he is forced to reconnect with his estranged father of 20 years, Yohji — an esteemed academic slipping rapidly into dementia. As Takashi attempts to piece together the mystery of Yohji’s missing wife and the fractured life his father now inhabits, their reunion uncovers long-buried tensions and unspoken grief, forcing Takashi to trace the past of his father that he has long refused to accept.
Unfolding as a meditation on loss — of time, identity, and familial closeness never fully grasped — Great Absence is a “delicately devastating” (Variety) award-winning drama from rising star director Kei Chikaura that navigates the fragile terrain of memory, estrangement, and the quiet devastations of aging.
directed by: Kei Chikaura
starring: Mirai Moriyama, Tatsuya Fuji, Yoko Maki, Hideko Hara
2023 / 133 min / 1.78:1 / Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info:
Region A Blu-ray
Interview with director Kei Chikaura
Behind-the-scenes footage
16-page booklet with essay by film critic Brian Tallerico
English subtitles