In this Danish/Swedish/Japanese co-production, we are told that 40% of adults in modern-day Japan say they are lonely. Increasingly, a large percentage of people live alone. We meet two such people in our film: one, a 45-year-old man we’ll call M, and a 43-year-old woman we’ll call F. M works for a business and feels he is being scapegoated for the company’s problems.
It is around COVID-19, which increases the feelings of isolation. He has no friends, and he seems to have never had any. At his large (for Japan) apartment, he has fish and even pet beetles in aquariums. His grandparents raised him, and he has no living relatives except a sister who was raised separately.
Next, we meet F; she is a manager at a store and, like M, has no real friends. It occurs to us that the two should get together, but that doesn’t happen. What does happen is that they both contact A Place For You, a free mental health hotline staffed with dedicated volunteers who work to help their clients find a path to healing and happiness. Slowly, both separately find ways to connect with others and take joy in the lives they have, for F. It’s as simple as looking up an old school friend who is in a similar stage in her life.
This film sounds sad and depressing, but it is anything but that. It is filled with hope and simple pleasures, the director, Kaspar Astrup
Schroder has a sizable list of documentaries he has produced, edited, and directed. This film is an excellent addition to that list.