(Chie Hayakawa, 2025, Japan, 120 minutes)

With shades of Shinji Somai’s Moving, Renoir takes place in suburban Tokyo in 1987, where 11-year-old Fuki’s father, Keiji (Lily Franky, Shoplifters), is battling a terminal illness, and in and out of hospital. Her mother, Utako (Hikari Ishida), is constantly stressed out from caring for Keiji while holding down a full-time job. Left alone with her rich imagination, Fuki (newcomer Yui Suzuki) becomes fascinated by telepathy and falls ever deeper into her own fantasy world. With a supporting turn from Yuumi Kawai (last seen on our screen in last month’s Two Seasons, Two Strangers), writer/director Chie Hayakawa’s Renoir premiered in competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and further justifies her rising stature on the international film scene, after August 2023 Webster Film Series hit Plan 75.

In Japanese with English subtitles.