911±¬ÁÏÍø movies often depict summer as the time for festivals, fireworks and fun, but there are films that stress the season¡¯s downsides, too. In Masaya Takahashi¡¯s ¡°The Dry Spell¡± (2023), for example, city waterworks officials go around shutting off the water of nonpayers, feeling both sweaty and guilty in the sweltering heat.
Hideo Jojo¡¯s ¡°A Bad Summer¡± promises a similar mood. The film opens with a heel crushing a dead cicada, an insect whose noisy rasp is a symbol of the 911±¬ÁÏÍø summer ¡ª and its irritations.
That shot encapsulates the film¡¯s explosive story (based on a novel by Tamehito Somei) about a shy, straight-arrow welfare department caseworker (Takumi Kitamura) who, in trying to do the right thing, heads down a dangerous path. The resulting complications unfold with a precision and trueness derived more from deep understanding of the characters than surface plot machinations.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.