Part of the 2020 selection of Pia Film Festival, “Fear of Missing Out” implements an experimental approach to comment on the concepts of suicide and loss.
“Fear of Missing Out” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Yujin has come across a recorded voice message left behind by Song, a friend from high school, before she committed suicide. Inside the car of a friend, Kou, she starts discussing about the impact the message had to her, eventually asking him to get her to a temple where a medium could possibly allow her to communicate with the deceased once more. The discussion is “interrupted” by scenes showing the recorder while Song's voice narrates her last thoughts, and ones of reenactment of what is heard, with the one regarding her husband, a policeman who also committed suicide after shooting a suspect, being the most impactful. A number of panoramic shots of the road, the arrival at the temple during the night and the morning meeting with the medium conclude the 36-minute short.
Presented mostly in night or rather dark shots that occasionally are quite hard to discern, Akira Kawachi's effort showcases his video-art background, through a film that focuses more on its atmosphere rather than its context. In that fashion, the plethora of vignettes that comprise the narrative are quite impressive on occasion, with the policeman sequence, that seems to imply that he started considering that the man he killed was also someone's son, the panoramic ones, and the flicking ones that show the deceased girl being the most memorable. Furthermore, the message communicated by the overall approach, regarding despair and the sense of loss that dominates those that are left behind, is quite eloquent in its presentation, with the darkness (both literal and metaphorical) that characterizes the short working quite well in that regard. The day scenes, which could also be perceived as a moment of hope as the light finally enters the equation, provide a much needed relief, while concluding the movie in a way that leads to a catharsis, although this aspect remains somewhat vague, and could have been handled a bit better.
Where the film fails significantly, however, is the sound, with the voices being of bad quality, something that becomes particularly annoying during the dialogue scenes. The whisper of the recording, on the other hand, suits the overall atmosphere, actually adding to it, with the same applying to Kawachi's sloe-paced editing, but in general, some improvement in the technical aspects of the movie would be rather welcome.
Since the acting mostly comprises of discussions and narration, it is difficult to comment upon. However, Yujin Lee as Yu-jin and Kojima Ayano as Song voice-acting is top notch, while the former's chemistry with Kou Takaishi's Kou is rather evident.
“Fear of Missing Out” is an interesting film, particularly due to its unusual approach, but Kawachi definitely needs to improve on the technical aspects of his filmmaking if he wants to move to the next level.
