The beautiful, deeply moving film was inspired by a semi-autobiographical novel by Makoto Takayama, and features two of Japan’s hottest stars — Ryohei Suzuki (Tokyo Tribe, Last of the Wolves) and Hio Miyazawa (Moonlight Shadow, The Legend and Butterfly) — in explicit sex scenes. But again, there’s so much more to recommend it.

In Egoist, Suzuki nearly sparkles with elegance, taste and personal charm as the protagonist, Kosuke. A wealthy fashion magazine editor with a close circle of artistic, bon vivant friends, Kosuke is surprised to find himself falling so quickly for his new personal trainer, Ryuta (Miyazawa). A financially strapped high-school dropout, Ryuta juggles a number of jobs to support his doting single mother, Taeko (Sawako Agawa, a revelation in the role).

A relationship between the two men develops, and they bask in one another’s considerable glow even after Kosuke discovers that Ryuta is a sex worker. Taeko warmly welcomes Kosuke to dinner one night, not letting on that she knows he might be more than a friend. Because Kosuke never recovered from his mother’s death when he was young, Taeko’s maternal attention seems like balm for his lonely soul. But tragedy is on the horizon.

Despite tugging at the heartstrings, Egoist is suffused with delicacy and naturalism, completely sidestepping melodrama in its exquisitely humanist depiction of LGBTQ+ and maternal relationships.

The film world premiered at the 2022 Tokyo International Film Festival, where it received the highest critics’ ranking of all films in competition; and has also been nominated for three Asian Film Awards, with winners due to be announced in early March. Just as importantly, Egoist is poised to win over Japanese audiences, and perhaps even to change many hardened minds about the urgent need for acceptance and inclusivity.