Faced with the prospect of her impending death, Futaba (Rie Miyazaki) sets out to straighten out the kinks in her life before she goes. It soon becomes clear that Futaba is no ordinary woman - she has a goal and she sets out to just do it. This goal includes finding her missing husband, revealing secrets about herself and connecting with people she hasn't seen in ages. This leads to some unexpected situations as she touches the lives of people, sometimes complete strangers, in deeply profound ways.
Nakano's previous full length feature film, Capturing Dad, also explored the notion of family through the impending death or death of a family member. This film is a distillation of this theme, concentrating on the impact said family member will have on the people they will leave behind.
The film deals with this impending death not with cynicism, but with an unrelenting sense of optimism, underlined by a passion of life even Futaba does not realize herself at first. The film expresses this through clever framing, the use of the color red as Futaba's motif, and Miyazawa's heartfelt performance.
Futaba faces her inevitable fate with a burning passion to do right by her family members, so that there are no loose ends, no secrets kept, and she does what she does with the intention of having the family go on as usual even if she is no longer there. Though the subject matter is serious, the film is filled with moments of levity that even out seriously tearjerking moments.
Though actress Rie Miyazaki arguably carries the film as Futaba, the supporting cast is impressive as well. Of note is young actress Hana Sugisaki, who delivers a commendable performance as Futaba's daughter, Azumi.
And though the film ends with Futaba gone, it's evident that her passion and love for her family will burn on, hot as the bathwater in the sento she helped rebuild.
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