Damn, the trailer got me so excited for this movie. First, japanese LGBTQ+ themed movies are still kinda rare. Secondly, it was looking like the story is gonna touch upon some sensitive topics. Lastly, CHE.R.RY by YUI used in that trailer. What can I say, I love that song.

N O T  S P O I L E R  F R E E / N O  M A J O R  S P O I L E R S

Shinoda Nanae is barely surviving. With her husband beating her up, she calls her old friend Nagisawa Rei to share her pain. Old love dies hard, so others can die easily. Rei takes it upon herself to get rid of Nanae's bastard husband. Both girls being the "damaged goods" decide to run away together. But they were damaged since the beginning of knowingeach other...

There are things I really liked about this movie.

Abuse. Different forms of it. Physical or psychological. The movie was not afraid to show that any relationship can be pretty toxic. Gay, straight, doesn't matter.

Depression and suicide. Nanae is depressed, talking about suicide a lot. The reason why in the story it's Rei killing her husband, instead of Nanae going to the police, is the way abuse and depression is treated in Japan. Killing is sadly way more effective in her case...

Manipulation and obsession. Nanae uses Rei, because she knows she was always obsessed with her. But Nanae herself wasn't able to accept the fact Rei wasn't the only one obsessed for 10 years.

How LGBTQ+ is perceived, in this case lesbian relationships. Rei was told by young age that she should "forget the straight girl", being exposed to toxic masculinity and prejudice all the time, tired of having to hide her orientation.

There were also things I didn't like...

So, who's responsible for this bull... Loosing virginity after years of lesbian sex, just because she did it with a guy once? That's not how this works. Same with Rei thinking she wouldn't be able to satisfy her, because she doesn't have the D. Sigh... Really.

I haven't read Gunjo, but what the hell is the director's obsession with Rei getting nailed by guys? Why? Is this in the original story? Or is it in this movie just to makw it more sex centered? Don't understand it.

Well, some scenes were pretty long. Silent. It got boring really fast, especially towards the end.

Not deep enough. Sometimes it felt as if the creators got too scared to go deeper with feelings, explaining, everything. The informations and problems of the characters kept piling up and that was it.

Also I think the trailer got lot of people confused, including me. The vibe was similar to Handmaiden, just modern, so we expected a thriller. We got none of it and it dissapointed some of us.

Overall, I was happy with first half of the movie story wise, with the other half only acting wise. Was it worth my time? I think it was, but probably won't watch it again.