Brendan Fraser’s (The Whale, MVFF45) enormous talent for playing empathetic characters is put to brilliant use in this crowd-pleasing comedy drama. An actor who has lived in Tokyo for seven years where parts for Americans are few, Philip (Fraser) is grateful when he gets a gig to play a mourner at an actual funeral. The job is his introduction to a unique Japanese industry where people lacking family or friends or colleagues can hire surrogates to fill those roles. Philip signs on full-time, but his compassion for his clients coupled with his own deep loneliness creates chaos at their homes and his hiring agency when he begins crossing boundaries. With her second feature, writer-director Hikari (37 Seconds, MVFF42) achieves a tricky perfect balance between laughs and poignancy in a film that celebrates the power of human connection. And Fraser is simply phenomenal as a man who rediscovers his own need for kinship through this unusual work opportunity. —Pam Grady
Hikari
Originally from Osaka, Hikari is an award-winning writer, director, and producer with professional background as a dancer, singer, painter, and photographer. Her debut feature, 37 Seconds,won the Panorama Audience Award and the CICAE Art Cinema Award at the 69th Berlinale. Her television credits include the Emmy-winning series Beef ‘s pilot and Tokyo Vice. She also wrote and directed short films, including Tsuyako, her USC thesis film that won over 50 awards, including DGA Student Award for Best Female Director. She’s currently developing Made in Utah, based on her experience as an exchange student, and an adaptation of Jules and Jim.
HIKARI: Writer/Director
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