Heavenly Forest

Heavenly Forest (2006) is a Japanese romance you can watch online on iFILM. Makoto meets Shizuru on his first day at university — she's stuck at a crossing, waiting for one kind driver to let her pass.

They become friends, just friends. Makoto teaches her photography, and the two spend afternoons shooting in the forest near campus. When he starts dating someone else, a stung Shizuru swears she'll grow into a beauty he'll regret losing — and he can never tell if she means it or is teasing him again. For her birthday she asks for a single kiss, for a contest photo. Then she vanishes. Two years pass before a letter arrives, inviting him to an exhibition in New York.

Director Takehiko Shinjo tells it softly — bright and aching, about the first love you only recognize too late. Aoi Miyazaki carries the whole film as Shizuru, the kind of character that stays with you. One for viewers who like unhurried Japanese cinema about feeling and regret. Stream Heavenly Forest online on iFILM.