It's estimated over a million Japanese live as "hikikomori," recluses totally withdrawn from society. Some hikikomori may even go for decades without leaving their house. While in the past the phenomenon was most commonly associated with young men, recent data has revealed a much wider demographic of people whose confidence in themselves, and in society, has been shattered. As the parents or relatives hikikomori so often depend on entirely become too old to care for them, many now face a dire situation, left alone and unable to cope.
Nida is a single mother who takes care of her anti-social son who has locked himself in his room for five years. The only way to communicate with her son is to write on a piece of paper and slip it under the door. But, when outsiders start to get curious about what is going on behind the door of her son's room, a series of terrible events starts to happen.
A battered young girl finds refuge in a mysterious button, with unprecedented consequences....
After learning an online friend is considering suicide, Makoto, a young non-binary hikikomori, must try to save her while remaining trapped at home due to fear of the outside world.
Hyun-dong is a hikikomori. He lives off of the joy of assembling and displaying Gundams in his only space, his home. Then one day, he makes a big decision to go out to buy a Gundam plastic model that a delivery man left next to his door. At that moment, the front door slams shut. He is trapped in an unfamiliar world, he can't remember the password and he decides to go on a long journey to find the key house.
Etsuro Kurosu faills getting into a university and becomes a hikikomori. One day, he tries to hang himself from a hook on the wall in his apartment. He fails, but his attempt leaves a hole in the wall. Through the hole wall, Etsuro Kurosu can now see Rio Miyaichi. He becomes fascinated with the girl that lives next door. Later, while peeping at her through the wall, Etsuro Kurosu sees her in the process of brutally murdering someone. He screams and is caught by her. Etsuro Kurosu confesses that he loves her and they start to date. Etsuro Kurosu feels happiness in his life, but what will happen to him? Will he be murdered by Rio Miyaichi?
Mentari's death forces the estranged siblings to reunite under Langit's care. Amidst their respective conflicts and wounds, they learn to accept their loss and rediscover the meaning of family.
Materia
La chiocciola
A calm, empathetic documentary film about hikikomori—mostly young, male social recluses in Japan—and their way back into society through the help of institutions. The film very unobtrusively tries to find out about its protagonists' motives for withdrawing from society and gives an interesting and insightful glimpse into this cultural phenomenon.
Matteo has decided not to go to school anymore and stay at home instead.
For Yasuko every day is a challenge. Due to her mental illness and hypersomnia, simple things like household chores and holding a job seem impossible. Added to the mix is an indifferent, almost distant boyfriend and an ex-girlfriend with plans to win him back.
An anime-obsessed young man fantasizes about his favorite voluptuous heroines, but his sex-addled dream quickly transforms into a nightmare which threatens to consume him.
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.
Divorcee learns from the FBI that her husband has mafia connections and put a contract on her life. She gets into the witness protection program and falls in love with the agent who protects her.
A man places his trust in the town's priest, completely unaware that he is a drug addict, thief and murderer.
The story of Virginia Hill, a former prostitute who was the girlfriend of '40s killer and gangster Bugsy Siegel.
Panicker's one-act play deals with the relation of identification between an actor and his or her role. The action takes place on the eve of the last act of the Kathakali piece Keechakavadham (The Killing of Keechaka). The events surrounding the performance uncannily echo events in the play. One character even claims to have killed the lead actor of the play because he detested the character the man portrayed. However, the three different accounts that are presented of the same plot are never resolved or reconciled with each other. Each version is accompanied by a different style of folk music: the tune and rhythm of southern Kerala’s thampuran pattu, the pulluvan pattu and the ayappan pattu. The performers were drawn from the theatre and from Kathakali. In southern India, with its plethora of politicians using their film images to acquire inordinate wealth and power, Aravindan’s TV film bears on an eminently sensitive political as well as aesthetic issue.