Himizu (2012)

Himizu is a Japanese movie directed by Shion Sono and based on a manga by Minoru Furuya. It was released by Gaga Communications in Japan on January 14, 2012.

The film received the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor at the 68th Venice Film Festival for the performances of its two young stars, Shota Sometani and Fumi Nikaido.

Sometani plays a 15-year-old named Yuichi Sumida who aspires to be ordinary in a chaotic world. However, his surroundings conspire against this. Both his parents have abandoned him and the local yakuza have started pressing him to pay off his father’s debts. Yuichi’s classmate Keiko Chazawa (Fumi Nikaido) faces similarly bleak circumstances—her own mother having recently built a gallows to encourage Keiko to hang herself.

Keiko feels drawn to Yuichi, and even though he repeatedly pushes her away, she keeps trying to get close to him. Meanwhile, a major incident causes Yuichi to reach his breaking point.