Almost People (2023)
(Satoko Yokohama, Gakury Ishii, Takuto Kato, Fumio Moriya, Japan 2023, 140 min., DCP, Japanese w/English subtitles)
Four siblings meet in a restaurant to catch up. From there, they each unveil their own story, directed by a different filmmaker. Hikaru (Goichi Mine) is a screenwriter struggling to put emotion into his dialogue; Himiko (Elisa Yanagi) is the face of a new app designed to hold corporate culture accountable; Taiyo (Kai Inowaki) can’t give his girlfriend the emotional support she seems to need; and Hanako (Mihaya Shirata) is lost in her life, looking to give up school to work at a seaside resort. All seem to have trouble relating with their emotions, but the stories seek to ask questions, rather than answer them, allowing the audience to fill in the blanks.