FACELESS

One of Japan’s busiest young directors, Michihito Fujii (The Journalist, Village, The Last 10 Years, 18.2: Beyond Youthful Days), has teamed up once again with one of the country’s hottest young actors, Ryusei Yokohama (Village, One Last Bloom), for the new crime thriller Faceless. The two collaborated closely on the script, which is based on “Shotai,” the acclaimed novel by Tamehito Somei, and it’s already been named Best Film of 2024 at the Hochi Film Awards. Faceless is screening with English subtitles at Shinjuku Piccadilly from December 13.

The story follows Keiichi Kaburagi (Yokohama), an 18-year-old suspect in a brutal triple murder that shocked the nation. As we know, once you’re charged with a crime in Japan, it’s nearly impossible to avoid jail time — or worse. After being sentenced to death, Keiichi manages to escape and goes on the run, assuming new identities and disguises as he attempts to elude recapture over the course of nearly 500 days.

Needless to say, this type of Wrong Man story is extremely popular in Japan, and for those of us from much larger countries, it seems a stretch that someone who looks like Yokohama and whose face is plastered all over Wanted posters and true-crime shows, could possibly stay hidden for a year. But that’s what Keiichi does, while the detective who let him get away, Matanuki (Takayuki Yamada), is in pursuit, despite never quite believing that he’s guilty.