Mikami Masao (Koji Yakusho), is released from prison after thirteen years for murder. Having no friends or family and no valid skills for work opportunities, he struggles to re-enter society. But Mikami is determined to leave his shadowy past behind him and desires to find his mother, from whom he was separated as a young child. Meanwhile, a television company takes an interest in Mikami, seeking to make a documentary programme based on his life. Tsunoda (Taiga Nakano), a young TV director, approaches Mikami for an interview, and ends up witnessing the ups and downs of Mikami’s relationships with others during his rehabilitation period.

Director Miwa Nishikawa has proved to be at the forefront of contemporary Japanese cinema. Starting her career as an assistant of Hirokazu Kore-Eda, her previous works have been shown internationally. The veteran actor Koji Yakusho gives a captivating performance as a character modelled after a real person, and the film carefully depicts the stigma and problems attached to the re-integration of ex-convicts into society.

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