Cloud (2024 | Japan | 124 minutes | Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Ryôsuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda) seems harmless enough; a factory worker that dreams of bigger and better things if he could only get his hands on more cash. His way out is making backdoor deals under the moniker Ratel (some may call it swindling) with desperate, or just naive, people needing to offload bulk products. After a nosy boss pushes him to take a management position he doesn’t want, he leaves the blue-collar job and makes reselling his full-time gig at a remote location outside of the city with his materialistic girlfriend in tow. Petty vandalism by locals, less-than-helpful cops suspicious of his business, and old acquaintances prodding him about what he’s up to lately is making Ryôsuke increasingly paranoid. It turns out he has good reason to be, he has a growing list of antis looking to dox him permanently. Little did he know how intent they’d be on ending his scheme and even his life.
I have some mixed feelings about Cloud. The concept for this story is intriguing for sure and doesn’t feel worn-out like so many thrillers before it, but the second half of the film is set within a 30-minute period after a somewhat slow and drawn out development of Ryôsuke’s life and circumstances. That, in itself, doesn’t make it bad, but so much happened in such a short period of time that it could get pretty confusing if you aren’t paying close attention.
Empathizing with any of the characters was a challenge. Yoshii isn’t a good guy, but neither are the people bent on his destruction, so who do we root for? His girlfriend was annoying from the start (definitely on purpose) and proved herself to be even more so as things progressed, so she’s not worthy of latching onto either. This is one of those times to let go of sympathy and absorb the experiences of the characters as they are and that can be a difficult task (it is for me). All that being said, the acting was superb, the story, while a bit complex, was navigable and captivating and the end was interesting. I wouldn’t say I was shocked but it definitely came out of nowhere… sort of. Is that enough unintended mystery to bring you out to the theater? If so, you can catch it at SIFF Cinema Uptown starting 8/15.
You can also check out Josh’s quick review of Cloud at SIFF earlier this year.
Cloud arrives at SIFF Cinema Uptown on 8/15