A father’s desperate quest to reunite with his daughter becomes the source of rising tension and heart-rending poignancy in this sensitively rendered third feature by Belgian filmmaker Guillaume Senez.
Reuniting with director Guillaume Senez after their very successful collaboration on 2018’s Our Struggles, Romain Duris gives a wonderfully lived-in performance as Jay, a French man now living in Tokyo and making a living as a driver for a private car service. Through Jay’s encounters with Jessica (Judith Chemla), another French expat, and his conversations with others sympathetic to his plight, Senez’s film gradually reveals the circumstances that have kept him in the country. Like others who share his plight, Jay is subject to a legal system that provides few rights to foreign parents in custody conflicts. As a result of Japan’s “clean break” approach to family law, a parent may be unable to even contact their child after a divorce. After nine painful years, Jay is on the verge of giving up on the possibility he might ever see his daughter Lily again. But then one morning, a new passenger in his car takes his story in another direction.
By grounding the narrative in small details and never resorting to easy sentimentality, even in its most charged moments, Senez imbues his film with great authenticity and humanity. Likewise, the director’s emphasis on the quotidian helps it avoid exoticizing Jay’s experience or perspective as an outsider in Japan. Through these quiet, careful methods, Senez has crafted an unusually thoughtful family story that contains a rare wealth of feeling.
JASON ANDERSON
Content advisory: mature themes
Screenings
Scotiabank 3
Scotiabank 6
Scotiabank 14