10. Gold Boy by Shusuke Kaneko

Apart from films that deal with bullying, which occasionally present schoolkids as truly sinister personas (“Confession” easily comes to mind), what usually permeates Japanese movies is an accusation towards the previous generations, whose members mostly shine through their absence and are uncaring to the point of neglect. And although this aspect is found also in “Gold Boy”, the villains here are definitely the youths and the previous generation the victims. The movie is based on a successful series that streamed on iQiyi platform.
9. All The Long Nights by Sho Miyake

After his quiet, moving drama “Small, Slow, but Steady” (2022) based on the autobiographical book by Keiko Ogasawara about her life as the first professional boxer with disability in this sport, Japanese helmer Sho Miyake is back on the international festival track with another little marvel of a film “All The Long Nights”. Just like its predecessor, the film had its world premiere at the Berlinale to critical acclaim. Another thing they have in common is that “All The Long Nights” is also based on a (eponymous) novel by Maiko Seo (published in 2020), adapted into a screenplay by Wada Kiyoto and the helmer himself. (Marina D. Richter)
8. Missing Child Videotape by Ryota Kondo

“Missing Child Videotape” is a triumph of minimalism that also seems to extend in the budget of the movie, and a masterclass on how you can build an atmosphere of horror without using any ‘tricks’. Ryota Kondo seems like a voice we will be hearing much about in the future.
7. Teki Cometh by Daihachi Yoshida

Considering that Japan is the most aging country in the world, it is by no surprise that films about the elderly have seen a significant increase lately. Daihachi Yoshida tries his hand also in the topic, by adapting Yasutaka Tsutsui‘s homonymous novel in a black-and-white movie that follows a non-linear approach. (…) Although perhaps somewhat slow and somewhat complicated, “Teki Cometh” emerges as a competent title that highlights the issues the elderly face through an approach that is both realistic and surrealistically entertaining.
6. Tatsumi by Hiroshi Shoji

Granted, there are some points where the narrative becomes far-fetched and repetitive, but this is just a minor fault, as “Tatsumi” is gritty, tense, brutally realistic and an overall great film.
5. Performing KAORU’s Funeral by Noriko Yuasa

“Performing KAORU’s Funeral” is a very entertaining film that continues the legacy of excellent Japanese family dramas revolving around funerals in the best fashion, in a movie that is bound to make its viewers smile a number of times.
4. She Taught Me Serendipity by Akiko Ooku

Based on novel “Kyo no Sora ga Ichiban Suki, to Mada Ienai Boku wa” by Shusuke Fukutoku, Akiko Ooku‘s latest feature “She Taught me Serendipity” is a tale of youth love, which is eventually revealed as something completely different.
3. The Harbor Lights by Adachi Mojiri

Through a powerhouse performance by Miu Tomita and the overall handling of the melodrama and the many impactful comments it makes, “The Harbor Lights” emerges as a truly great movie, definitely among the best of the year.
2. Cloud by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Now, we are given a protagonist not to be sympathized with, a treatment that breaks our expectations, and pushes to break cinematic illusion. Is Kiyoshi Kurosawa anti-cinematic? He may be so. But the flip-side of “Cloud”’s “anti-cinema” is a productive chain where attempts for breaking and delinking bring out new experiences to uncover. This is ultimately refreshing. Considering that imaginations of “newness” in cinematic forms are often given to technologies outside of the theatrical space — the so-called “expanded cinema”, this film has the audacity to propose novelty within the very limitation of the two dimensional screen. (Epoy Deyto)
1. HappyEnd by Neo Sora

The way the principal uses first the threat of the earthquake and then what he describes as a terrorist act in order to establish a surveillance system that essentially gives him more control, is indicative of the practices of many governments around the world, in a concept that unfortunately, is not restricted only to fundamentalist regimes. His racism, and the way he expresses it, is also indicative of the way it creeps into ‘normal” people, and is exploited by others. The way the PM reacts also moves in the same direction, while the role the police plays is also highlighted, although not in a particularly pointed way. Fumi and the activist group she attends is indicative of similar groups in Japan nowadays, but also shows why their impact is so miniscule. The fact that Kou is essentially drawn to the whole concept due to him liking Fumi can also be perceived as a comment on the aforementioned aspect.