Himizu

Himizu (ヒミズ, 2012) is a Japanese drama directed by Sion Sono — watch online on iFILM. Shot on location among the actual debris left by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, it follows two teenagers for whom survival was already a daily effort before the disaster hit.

Yuji Sumida runs his father's battered boat-rental business while his father beats him and his mother vanishes with another man. Keiko, a classmate, carries her own wreckage at home and channels everything into loving Yuji — stubbornly, even when he refuses it. The earthquake turns a bleak situation into something close to impossible. Both actors were 19; both took home Silver Lions from Venice for their performances.

Adapted from Minoru Furuya's manga, the film is unsparing — Sion Sono offers no convenient exit. But underneath the weight there's genuine warmth between two people who have only each other. Stream Himizu (2012) online on iFILM.