Passion

After an impromptu late night gathering at the apartment of an attractive former classmate, a group of friends in their late twenties find themselves entangled in a series of love triangles that quickly reveal their insecurities and long suppressed resentments. Produced as Hamaguchi’s thesis project at Tokyo University of the Arts (where he studied under Kiyoshi Kurosawa), Passion is an acutely written drama about the prolonged adolescence of early adulthood and the dissonance between self and others, happiness and desire. Featuring memorable set pieces that showcase the filmmaker’s facility with scene construction, this unassuming feature film debut introduces the formation of a major film talent.

Part of Three by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.