" RENOIR — with its faint traces of sentiment, and complete absence of sentimentality — delicately articulates the girl’s inner child in a way that allows us to feel it expand across the season." - David Ehrlich, IndieWire
"Similar to Yasujirō Ozu—Hayakawa often utilizes the same type of classical framing employed by the old master—this is a film that steps to a delicate rhythm whose echo isn’t heard until the very end." - Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
"[S]weetly reticent.... What distinguishes Hayakawa’s approach is a principled refusal of the obvious; she doesn’t strain to make Fuki relatable, or diagnose her, or problematize her occasional flights of fantasy." - Justin Chang, The New Yorker
Opens June 12 | Chie Hayakawa’s (PLAN 75) sophomore feature is a tender, often unsettling portrait of childhood grief and the sinuous imagination of an inquisitive young girl named Fuki played by transfixing newcomer Yui Suzuki. In Suburban Tokyo of 1987, imaginative eleven-year-old Fuki begins her summer break lonely and adrift – her kind, terminally ill father has landed once again in the hospital and her mother, distracted by the inevitability of his diagnosis, hasn’t much time for her daughter. Fuki responds to the situation not with tears but with placid curiosity about the prospect of death – becoming fascinated by the occult and experimenting with hypnotism. As the summer passes, Fuki encounters a string of lonely, imperfect adults, all of whom nudge her closer to an emotional truth she isn't quite ready to name yet. Siskel Film Center exclusive.
Awards & Nominations
2025 Cannes Film Festival - Official Selection
2025 Toronto International Film Festival - Official Selection
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu