Cloud (Home Re-Release) | The Deight Night Review
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| Cloud (2025, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Eureka Entertainment) |
In the latest thriller from cult Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Cloud, Ryosuke Yoshii, (Masaki Suda) a scalper from Tokyo is at the height of his game. With the profits he makes from reselling, he earns enough to quit his job at an industrial laundromat and move out of his cramped apartment, into a larger house in the countryside to store all his goods and have room for his girlfriend, Akiko (Kotone Furukawa). He even decides to hire an assistant, Sano (Daiken Okudaira). One day though, Sano discovers that a group of people who have been conned or taken advantage of by Yoshii (or rather Ratel - his online pseudonym) have begun to join together online to plot their revenge. Yoshii begins to learn that you can't live a life such as he's chosen without making a few life changing grudges along the way.
In comparison to Kurosawa's other most famous films, Cloud is fairly straightforward. While films like Pulse and Charisma defy the definition of reality and force you to ask questions with deep philosophical implications, Cloud is perfectly content in telling a story that's very much centred in our plain of existence with no form of caveat. That's not to say the film lacks any form of depth, but it certainly doesn't take a Google to understand what Kurosawa is trying to tell his audience. While this may come as a disappointment to more ardent fans of the director's work, this makes Cloud a more accessible film for general audiences and is a more fulfilling first time watch.
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| Cloud (2025, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Eureka Entertainment) |
Indeed, Cloud's story is an interesting one as its first half serves as one of the most relaxing thriller openings of all time, whilst its second half descends into complete anarchy with a certain moment sweeping the rug from underneath the audience's feet revealing the true thrills that Kurosawa has in store. Cloud's first half build's Yoshii's character, showing his business and the methodical and nefarious ways he's going about building his stock through more and more manipulative means. While this part of the film may seem slow, the way in which its filmed really allows viewers into the world of a reseller and it remains relatively dialogue light, allowing a lot of the actions to speak for themselves. Moments like Yoshii drinking his water whilst watching over his sales coming in become almost tranquil, lulling you (and by extension, Yoshii) into a false sense of security.
The second part of Yoshii's story is full of twists, turns, shocks and surprises and turns a film that was once relatively peaceful into a loud and chaotic nightmare. Without going in to too much detail, the narrative certainly turns a dark corner as Yoshii's deeds come to haunt him in the worst ways realistically possible. This brings to light what's central to why Cloud is the intriguing film that it is. While the film doesn't have the same thematic depth as Kurosawa's other films, it's nevertheless still a unique and creative story.
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| Cloud (2025, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Eureka Entertainment) |
Taking the perspective of a character such as Yoshii, who scams and manipulates his way through life, there's a distinct moral to the story as, while what happens to the film's protagonist isn't nice, from a different perspective, it would definitely seem like some form of justice. In this regard, Cloud becomes a neo-noir cult classic, playing with the ideas of perspective and retribution to create a story that has a very grey moral compass all around. A lot of the best stories sit in this area of the spectrum of moral story telling. With the constant threat of superhero fatigue and audiences tiring of the same old stories of good versus evil, human stories like this will become all the more popular and that's very much a good thing.
Cloud isn't quite Kiyoshi Kurosawa's best film as it doesn't have the same genius behind it as his most notable works. However, it's still an example of his talent for filmmaking and experimenting with the art of storytelling. Cloud serves as a perfect entry point for film viewers who are looking for something a little different to Hollywood's usual output, but aren't ready for the more thought provoking films of the director's earlier filmography.
★★★★
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