Shadow Of Fire (2023) ****

The third in a loose trilogy of war films—including 2014's Fires On The Plain (review) and 2018's Killing (review)—Shinya Tsukamoto's Shadow Of Fire (2023) concerns the lives of Japanese citizens immediately following World War II, specifically focusing on an orphan, a prostitute, and two soldiers and the bonds they form. This intimate drama finds Tsukamoto at his most Lynchian, infusing the realism of the piece with moments of surreal unease, as the characters navigate their trauma and the violence haunting their days.

Shinya Tsukamoto Films Ranked