Rage

Borderline hated it. Slow burn. Could be half an hour shorter. Tough watch. Among the three parallel stories, Aiko's story was decent, and Izumi's story was the weakest.

Three mostly unrelated stories about desperation and trust - the murder/crime angle that most reviews focus on is only secondary. Has great acting and cinematography, and tackles some subjects that Japanese movies are often afraid to discuss. The writing is hit and miss with some great moments throughout but also over the top melodrama near the end as well as an unnecessary rape-as-a-plot-device. The soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto is fantastic.

Pleasantly surprised by the strong acting throughout, even by those better known for their looks than their performance. Wasn't really satisfied with the "three unrelated stories" trope as used here -- the movie ends with a sequence of excessively melodramatic moments in an attempt to justify all three plotlines, but it felt rather forced.