Review of After the Storm (2016)
Seen in 2021.
Fifteen years after his prize-winning debut as a novelist, Ryōta is still doing “research” for his next book as a corrupt private detective with a major gambling problem. He is turning into his father, including his near-absence in the life of his own son.
The original title, ”Umi yori mo mada fukaku”, means “Even deeper than the sea”. That’s a better title insofar as it does not hype up the year’s 24th typhoon, which provides trivial external-internal correspondence for the climax of the last tweny minutes. That climax is weak, leaving the film retreading quite common points in realistic dramas. The detail work is good, but like Ryōta’s novel, there doesn’t seem to be a larger point to it.
References here: Mob Psycho 100 (2016).