Overview
In a world shaken by disaster, two troubled teens find solace in each other amidst despair.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- harrowing
- abrasive
- bleak
- serious film night
- japanese cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the young leads, sound design, and devastating emotional intensity while finding the film abrasive, repetitive, and difficult to like.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Yuichi and Keiko endure abusive homes and construct mutual emotional and physical support after disaster disrupts their lives.
The film uses earthquake-like low rumbling, cacophonous sound effects, and post-earthquake surroundings to evoke pervasive trauma.
The teenagers are ignored, abused, or encouraged toward suicide by parents and other adults who should protect them.
The film’s harrowing domestic abuse, brutal violence, repetition, and intense performances push realistic adolescent misery toward extremity.
Films like Himizu, and why
Nobody Knows
shared harrowing coming-of-age drama, abusive family dynamics, and emotionally intense young protagonists
The Selfish Giant
shared bleak social realism, damaged adolescents, and compassionate focus on marginalized lives
The War Zone
shared psychologically intense youth drama, family abuse, and volatile tonal extremity
All About Lily Chou-Chou
shared post-disaster trauma, adolescent alienation, and unsettling contemporary Japanese social critique
Movie Details
- Director
- Sion Sono
- Release Date
- 2012-01-14
- Runtime
- 130 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (182)
Cast
- Shota Sometani
- Fumi Nikaido
- Tetsu Watanabe
- Ken Mitsuishi
- Denden
- Tarō Suwa
- Hidetoshi Kawaya
- Mitsuru Fukikoshi
- Megumi Kagurazaka
- Yosuke Kubozuka
Common questions
- What is Himizu about?
- Two abused teenagers forge a desperate bond of survival amid the social wreckage left by family violence and an earthquake.
- What is Himizu like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Himizu as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Himizu violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Himizu as graphic.
- What did critics think of Himizu?
- Critics broadly praised the young leads, sound design, and devastating emotional intensity while finding the film abrasive, repetitive, and difficult to like.
- Which films are like Himizu?
- Films with a similar feel include Nobody Knows, The Selfish Giant, The War Zone, and All About Lily Chou-Chou.
- How long is Himizu?
- Himizu runs 130 minutes.
