To the Ends of the Earth

"To the Ends of the Earth" (2019) — watch online on iFILM — is a Japanese drama directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, shot on location in Uzbekistan.

Yoko flies to Tashkent with a TV variety crew. Her job is to look thrilled on camera, to find joy in every market stall and archway. But the cameras cut, and what's left is heat, exhaustion, and a growing suspicion that her real self is somewhere the format can't reach. Kurosawa — known in the West for Cure and Tokyo Sonata — is less interested in Uzbekistan as backdrop than in what displacement does to a person. Atsuko Maeda carries the film with remarkable understatement.

Stream "To the Ends of the Earth" online on iFILM.