Some films are psychological thrillers.
Some films are social commentaries.
And then there is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud, a movie so aggressively depressing that by the end I wasn’t sure if I’d watched a film or been emotionally mugged by an accountant.
If you ever wanted to see a man become the final evolutionary stage of a toxic reseller on Yahoo! Auctions, congratulations. This is your Everest.
Meet Yoshii: Japan’s First Anti-Hero Who Could Lose a Fight to Bubble Wrap
Our protagonist, Yoshii (Masaki Suda), is introduced stealing medical devices from a supplier — because nothing says “thrilling cinema” like a man reselling foot massagers at a criminal markup.
He is:
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A factory worker
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A petty scammer
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A chronic over-thinker
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A human beige cardigan
Within the first 20 minutes, he turns down a promotion (because job stability is for quitters), quits outright, buys a giant suburban house, and transforms it into a warehouse big enough to run a cult from.
His girlfriend Akiko moves in.
His assistant Sano helps him scale up.
But Yoshii himself?
He somehow becomes LESS interesting as the film goes on — which is impressive, because he starts at the energy level of a damp hand towel.
The Horror: Not Ghosts. Not Monsters. Just… Online Customer Service.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is famous for his subtle, eerie atmospheres.
Here, the atmosphere is “What if Amazon Marketplace sellers unionized to kill you?”
Yoshii’s reselling hustle spirals into a nightmare of:
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angry customers
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furious suppliers
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forum trolls
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grieving coworkers
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and at least one yakuza with a cell phone plan worse than Yoshii’s
The tension slowly builds until you realize something horrifying:
This film is literally about a man being hunted down because he scalped cheap health devices.
Forget curses or demons — Cloud reveals the real terror of modern life:
everyone you inconvenience online wants to commit homicide.
Akiko: The Girlfriend Who Leaves, Returns, and Still Makes Terrible Choices
Akiko, played by Kotone Furukawa, begins as the sweet, supportive girlfriend you just know is too good for this dude. Yoshii’s emotional availability has the warmth of refrigerated tofu, so she eventually leaves him.
A good choice!
A healthy choice!
…aaaaand then she immediately returns during an active murder siege.
By the time she pulls a gun on Yoshii to steal his credit cards, I realized this wasn’t a thriller — it was an elaborate reenactment of the dangers of dating men with unstable home-based businesses.
Sano: The Assistant Who Turns Out to Be the Final Boss of Side Hustles
Sano begins as the polite, quiet young assistant who actually has ideas for product expansion. Which of course means Yoshii fires him, because business owners in this movie hate competence the way vampires hate sunlight.
Then Sano reappears at the climax, not with ideas or spreadsheets — but with guns. Many guns.
Suddenly he’s:
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a hitman
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a hacker
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a tactical rescue specialist
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and possibly Satan’s intern
By the end, Sano has rescued Yoshii from a mob, slaughtered half the cast like he’s speedrunning a video game, and delivered one of the most ominous pep talks in Japanese cinematic history:
“Keep making profit. I can give you everything you want. Even things that can destroy the world.”
Lovely.
This man went from part-time assistant to full-time Antichrist without even asking for a raise.
The Angry Mob: Internet Comments, but With Weapons
The group that hunts Yoshii is composed of:
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A disgruntled supplier
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An enraged customer
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Yoshii’s ex-boss
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A yakuza who probably doesn’t understand e-commerce
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Random people from an online forum who needed a hobby
It’s like the Avengers of Resentment.
They stalk Yoshii through the woods, armed with the kind of makeshift weaponry that suggests nobody planned this out. Frankly, the scariest thing about them is that they organize more efficiently than Yoshii runs his business.
The Big Climax: Everyone Tries to Kill Everyone (and Some Succeed)
The final 30 minutes are pure chaos:
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Yoshii is tied up
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The mob prepares to livestream his immolation like it’s Twitch for psychopaths
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Sano bursts in, firing bullets with the energy of a man finishing his shift early
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Akiko tries to kill Yoshii and immediately gets shot
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The forest somehow catches on fire despite being soaking wet
It’s a ballet of morally bankrupt characters repeatedly out-stupiding each other until only two are left standing.
The Final Scene: “Let’s Destroy the World, Buddy!”
Yoshii — the man who was nearly burned alive due to his poor customer service — sits next to Sano, the murder-angel, as they drive into the unknown.
Sano promises him anything.
Power. Wealth. Even “world-ending things.”
Yoshii mutters:
“So this is how you’re going to hell.”
They drive off together like the worst possible duo in a buddy-road-movie spinoff nobody asked for.
Why Was This Japan’s Oscar Submission?
Cinema lovers scratched their heads when Cloud was chosen as Japan’s Oscar contender.
Was it bold?
Yes.
Was it psychological?
Absolutely.
Was it depressing enough to qualify as a war crime?
One hundred percent.
It wasn’t nominated, of course — probably because halfway through, Academy voters were too busy Googling “Is this supposed to be a comedy?” and “How do I return a screener without watching the rest?”
Final Verdict: A Thriller That Starts With Greed and Ends With a Headache
Cloud is:
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bleak
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slow-burning
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downbeat
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and occasionally so absurd it circles back to entertaining
It’s a cautionary tale about capitalism, loneliness, and the dangers of selling knockoff medical devices online.
It’s also a reminder that if your assistant suddenly develops elite firearm skills… run.
For fans of existential dread and soul-crushing social commentary, this film will hit all the right notes.
For everyone else?
Just shop locally.
Buy from ethical sellers.
And avoid men who talk about profit margins like they’re religious scripture.
Final takeaway:
The real horror isn’t the mob.
It’s Yoshii’s business model.
