The Real You

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026: Knowing Me, Knowing You: The True Self in Japanese Cinema.  

Co-presented by the Japan Foundation.

Supported by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

Would knowing the truth about somebody you loved bring you happiness?

In the near future, factory worker ISHIKAWA Sakuya (IKEMATSU Sosuke, Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue, JFTFP23) receives a phone call from his mother, Akiko (TANAKA Yuko, Thousand and One Nights, JFTFP24), who has something important to tell him. On the way home to meet her, Sakuya witnesses her drowning in a river. One year later, after waking from a coma caused by a serious injury sustained while trying to save her, Sakuya discovers that his beloved mother participated in an “elective death” programme, which has been legalised by the government. Sakuya is left distraught and confused.

Encouraged by his trouble-prone friend KISHITANI (MIZUKAMI Koshi), Sakuya meets NOZAKI Masato (TSUMABUKI Satoshi, Shape of Red, JFTFP21, A Man, JFTFP24), a developer of Virtual Figures (VF) — AI recreations of the dead built from harvested data and accessed through VR goggles. Desperate to learn his mother’s final message, Sakuya spends his savings to commission a VF of her and approaches a young woman, MIYOSHI Ayaka (MIYOSHI Ayaka), who claims to have known his mother, hoping she can help him gather more data about her. Soon, a strange cohabitation begins between Sakuya, Ayaka, and his virtual mother. However, his mother’s digital image gradually reveals a side of her that Sakuya has never known…

Adapted from HIRANO Keiichiro’s novel of the same name, this film by seasoned director ISHII Yuya (The Moon, JFTFP25; The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue, JFTFP23; Sawako Decides, JFTFP11) serves as both a possible glimpse into our future and a critique of advancing technology. From AI to virtual beings to the controversial topic of assisted dying, it tackles urgent social issues while confronting audiences with the question of what we might feel when we finally learn the truth about others.

Contains mild violence.

Screenings

Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2024, JAPAN CUTS 2025, Yokohama Film Festival 2025