Hotaru is the apple of her mother's eye, a bubbly eight-year-old who enjoys playing the harmonium. But Akie's well-ordered life is thrown for a loop when her husband hires Yasaka to help in his metal shop, and even gives him a room in their home, all with scarcely a word of explanation. To her surprise, Akie finds herself drawn to this tall, soft-spoken stranger, even when he confesses that he's just been released after serving 10 years in prison for murder.

It starts innocently enough, but there will more than enough guilt to go around before we're through. Koji Fukada's spellbinding drama holds its cards close to the chest and keeps us guessing as to its protagonists' motivations and where we might be headed. It's a film that plays on the Japanese characteristics of deference and solicitude. At several points in the tale, raw, uncontrolled emotion breaks through, and the consequences are devastating.

"Cycles of guilt, blame and vindictiveness are replayed in scenes of scorching emotional power, which elicit gut-wrenching performances from Tsutsui and Furutachi." Maggie Lee, Variety

Winner: Jury Prize, Un Certain Regard, Cannes