In this incisive look at how two women’s lives cross in contemporary Japan, director Yukiko Sode explores the dictates of class distinctions and the elusive nature of happiness. Hanako (Mugi Kadowaki) is a delicate beauty with an ear for music whose broken engagement has her desperate for love. Concerned with lineage, her wealthy Tokyo family scrambles and finds the ideal suitor in Koichiro (Kengo Kora). Miki (Kiko Mizuhara) is a pretty but pragmatic survivor from a rural province whose parents demand her support, intensifying her desire to attend college and make it on her own. Sophisticated in style and existential in reach, this elegantly crafted film delivers exquisite performances about friendship, love, and destiny.
