Sexual abuse has long been wrapped in silence in Japanese society, with victims reluctant to speak out or press charges for fear of being shamed or disbelieved. That fear still exists, but more films here are taking on abuse as a theme, such as Kana Yamada’s 2019 “Life: Untitled,” which examines its impact on sex workers.
Another is veteran director Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s “First Love,” an overwrought, well-meaning mystery and courtroom drama based on a Naoki Prize-winning novel by Rio Shimamoto. The story centers on two starkly different women who connect through their individual histories of trauma.
In contrast to “Life: Untitled,” an indie drama by an up-and-coming director, “First Love” is a commercial film headlined by Keiko Kitagawa, one of Japan’s biggest stars at the moment. It’s aimed at the mass audience, which has a preference for broad performances and storylines hewing to familiar formulas. That is, they tend to like what they are used to seeing on TV.