Friday November 26th 6:00 pm
Japan • 2021 • 70 Min • Sci-Fi Comedy • Japanese W/ English Subtitles
Director
Junta Yamaguchi
Writer
Makoto Ueda
Producers
Takahiro Otsuki & Kazuchika Yoshida
Cast
Kazunari Tosa, Aki Asakura, Riko Fujitani, & Gôta Ishida
Preceded by the short film
INHERITANCE
Annalise Lockhart, 14 Min, USA
A family living in the countyside are invaded by mysterious phantoms.
Few feel-good movies from this year rival Junta Yamaguchi’s indie sci-fi comedy. Until I watched this movie, I did not know that Japan is the land of infinitely long coaxial cables. Thank goodness for café owner Kato as he owns such a cable. When he finds out that the monitor in his apartment above his café is a portal to two minutes in the future, he’ll need to take that monitor with him wherever he goes. When his friends find out what is happening, will their actions bring them fortune or disaster? Do the rewards outweigh the risks as Kato and his friends dive further into the future, two minutes at a time? Beyond is a clever time-warped comedy and another crowd-pleasing indie film from Japan.
“It’s so wild, and very telling of this movie’s brilliance, that there’s so much intricate blocking and camera movement from debut director Junta Yamaguchi, and yet you’re still caught up in the narrative momentum more than anything else.”
“A high-concept, single-take masterwork that melds small stakes sci-fi with lighthearted sweetness, it spins intricate gears inside a deceptively simple framework.”