My Broken Mariko - Japan Foundation Tour

Tomoyo who works for a company that habitually flouts labour regulations, discovers that her childhood friend has jumped from the fifth floor and died. It was her best friend Mariko who came from a broken family.

While she is unable to accept her death, Tomoyo learns that the urn of Mariko’s bones is with her father; she decides to take it away from him at a knife point. Ever since she was young, Mariko has been abused by her father and then her lover, and Tomoyo now wants to do anything she can do for her friend who has been deprived of her life.

Caught up in a constant whirlwind of memories, she takes Mariko’s remains to the beach where Mariko had always dreamed of going. Tomoyo's introspective journey begins badly. However, involving a stranger who accidentally helps her, Tomoyo’s first and last “two-person trip” begins now.

Based on a striking manga by WAKA Hirako, a veteran female director TANADA Yuki handles the painful experiences in childhood and trauma very sensitively and merge swell their past and present on screen, presenting Tomoyo’s emotion towards Mariko perfectly. NAGANO Mei’s acting delivers a visceral and intense performance that leaves one breathless. The superb performance by Nao playing for Mariko (Eternally Younger than Those Idiots) which pushes her fragility and sense of loss in life creates unparalleled contrast with Tomoyo who has been always acting as Mariko’s guardian.

Emotionally challenging, this film poses a question as to how early trauma affects the human mind and their relationship

Image: © 2022 “My Broken Mariko” Films Partners