Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2010

©Takuya Fukushima P-kraft / Keiko Kusakabe MAKOTOYA.Co.,Ltd.

This is the perfect example of a movie that’s way more frustrating than it would be if it were simply bad. Our Brief Eternity has a gripping premise that offers ample opportunity to explore interesting areas of the mind. Indeed, the first 40 minutes are genuinely compelling, but it then wavers and devolves into a mawkish melodrama. Teru (Kouta Kusano) is a classic 20-something NEET who wanders the streets of Tokyo in a tattered shawl and shaggy goatee, getting drunk with his friends in dive bars. One day he runs into ex-girlfriend Mio (Romi), who has no memory of him. It turns out there’s a virus sweeping Japan that causes people to faint (leading to some arresting visuals) and then entirely forget one important person in their life. The film uses the trite motif of the Mysterious Stranger, in this case Kitsune (Takuya Fukushima), to explain the complexities of the disease, and the second half spirals into grandiose pretensions and exaggerated emotion. Which is a shame—for a while, the characters begin to explore the intriguing notion of what it would be like to have a second chance at a relationship. Perhaps Our Brief Eternity is worth viewing for the first half alone… (105 min)