Menu
© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 21 movies from PFF Partners
There is an old love hotel in Tokyo's Shinjuku district where couples can rent a room by the hour for romantic assignations. However, few of its regular customers seem to come there for sexual encounters; the hotel has become a hangout for rootless teenagers, senior citizens looking for a place to relax, and kids that play under the watchful eye of its owner...
Oct 2007
Sakiko, a young bank teller, has an unhealthy obsession with money. Thieves hold up the bank, kidnapping Sakiko in the process, but eventually crash their car, resulting in a suitcase stuffed with cash falling into a nearby river. For the remainder of the film, Sakiko begins a desperate quest to retrieve the money.
Feb 1997
After 5 years in Tokyo, 5 part-time jobs, 5 boyfriends, Sawako's life is going nowhere. When her father gets seriously ill, she has to take over his struggling factory. Gradually she becomes the decider of her own life.
May 2010
In a small town on the countryside, every young boy is forced to have the same bowl-head haircut known as the "Yoshino-gari" hairstyle. Then one day, a drastic change occurs when a transfer student with bleached hair comes from Tokyo.
Apr 2004
A coming-of-age story. Shuji, a Japanese teen, is falling in love with his friend Hiroyuki, however, Hiroyuki is attracted to Kasane, the new girl in their class.
Dec 1995
The family of 20-year-old Ohta is celebrating his birthday in a restaurant. What was supposed to be a happy familiar reunion turns into a big mess.
Sep 2003
Three storylines interweave in Border Line. Kurosawa (Murakami Jun) finds himself driving a taciturn young man named Matsuda (Sawaki Tetsu) halfway to Hokkaido, after accidentally knocking him off his bike; their fragile bond can last only so long. The housewife Aikawa Misa (Aso Yumi) tries desperately to hold her family together when her husband gets laid off and her son is so frightened of bullies at school that he throws up in the car; she’s reduced to taking a McJob in a convenience store. And Miyaji (Mitsuishi Ken), who collects debts for a yakuza gang, gets into trouble when his partner Kitajima puts personal need above duty.
Jun 2003
Kawamoto works and lives in a dilapidated pool hall which also serves as a rehearsal space for him and his friend Chikako. They seem contented to while away their hours doing nothing much at all. Meanwhile, an old pool shark meets some people from his past that he is none too happy to see again. How will this affect their private haven?
Mar 2000
In a noisy classroom, biology teacher Madoka proceeds with his lesson in a small voice.He is unable to look the students square in the face nor admonish them for talking or sleeping in class. Only Tsubura looks upon him with a smile. Very much infatuated with Madoka, she records his idiosyncrasies in her biology notebook through illustrations--tapping his hand on his chin is proof that he is annoyed; messily tugging at his hair when he is at his wits' end. Tsubara, fearful of being forgotten after she dies, only eats things loaded with preservatives so that even if she dies, her body will not rot. Believing such things, Tsubara, thinking that "combining Mr. Madoka who has no one with me who needs someone would surely be perfect," gets the wild idea of a genital exchange with Madoka.
Sep 2011
Ichiro is a 32-year-old man who has voluntarily become his mother's "pet," retreating from the flow of life suggested by society: university, career, marriage, parenting, home ownership. His quiet life at home (with an alcoholic father) is interrupted when the ex-boyfriend of Ichiro's mother and his "white idol" daughter move in. Under a cramped roof, the five search for happiness.
Jul 2022
A visit to the employment office, practicing dance steps, making music with friends: several women’s everyday lives are captured in long shots and with a superb sense of place. A film like a summer's day, bright, friendly, with the occasional chill.
Mar 2024
One summer day, Tokiko, whose life in Tokyo is going nowhere fast, gets on an overnight bus to the countryside. When she arrives, she meets Yohei, a high school student struggling to deal with the sudden death of a young man who was like a big brother to him.
Sep 2015
Can we ever be freed from the "curse of love" that dictates "women must be pretty and fall in love"? A humorous and at times affecting chronicle of an artistic girl’s life and loves from elementary school, through university, into young adulthood.
Feb 2025
A seemingly ordinary preparatory school student Kishida who seemed to have raped her with a girl who seems to be prostituting while seemingly sending an ordinary high school girl high life is tied up with some kind of strange relationship.
Jan 1986
The day before summer vacation. Yoko who tastes Tallow of the third year high school student will move to Hokkaido. However, with my grandpa's selfishness, she returned from the station and decided to live at the house next to Tallow! To the feeling that should have been sorted out, the fire is put on again.
Sep 1993
Thirty-year-old, unemployed Kenji (Kaku Tomohiro) spends his days listlessly at his parent's home, which is set to be torn down any day now. He relives his childhood when a third grader out for summer vacation nails Kenji with a water balloon, and Kenji fights back.
Aug 2013
A story after 100 years from now. A man, Komori who could not receive education and lived by the flow of life came to attend a funeral in a small town that is remote. So, by chance I meet Uchida who is a childhood friend. He is growing up as an intelligent man with a realistic ambition of "conquering the universe."
Jan 1991
A young girl lives an isolated existence surrounded by stuffed animals with which she engages in long conversations, until one day she meets a mysterious and dangerous cyclist with whom she ends up having more in common than expected.
Sep 2022
A man who has lost his memory returns to his hometown and encounter several people from his past and present.
Apr 1983
A village in a different world that I do not know anywhere. There are five laws in the village, and if you break that rule you will be punished. The driver of the bus with the synonym of "Bengal's Tiger" attempts to escape from the village with two friends, but failed five times. By the instruction of the computer of "city", memory is erased as punishment. After that, the village steadily got dominated by the computer of the "city", and the driver of the bus who lost his memory kept living calmly while being watched by the lover. Meanwhile, a guerrilla group had been expecting the collapse of computer control.
Jun 1987