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Bright Future(アカルイミライ)

✭ ✭ ✭   Read critic reviews

Japan
·
2003

1h 55m

Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Starring Joe Odagiri, Tadanobu Asano, Tatsuya Fuji, Takashi Sasano

Genre Drama, Mystery

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Two friends who work in the same oshibori laundry are lost in the drudgery of everyday life. They hang out together, barely functioning and barely communicating. Their middle-aged boss makes a desparate attempt to connect with them with disasterous consequences. Their future is far from bright.

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WHAT ARE CRITICS SAYING?

88

Premiere by Aaron Hillis

An enchantingly cryptic, ethereally photographed slice of somber surrealism that should definitely appeal to fans of David Lynch and Luis Buñuel.
40

Variety by David Rooney

Occupies wavelengths too remote to be tuned in by audiences other than diehard Asian esoterica enthusiasts.
83

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

The most spellbinding aspect of Bright Future is that the surrealism sustains its own squiddish logic, concluding with one of the most breathtaking film finales of the year.
80

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

Casts its spell by drawing out the horror of everyday existence bit by bit, and then tossing in some otherworldly weirdness that makes the hair on the back of your neck try to run for cover.
70

Village Voice by Michael Atkinson

Kurosawa strolls through his narrative with relaxed confidence, suggesting apocalyptic significances without assuring us that he has anything particular on his mind.