Bright Future (2003)

70% of critics liked it
(20 reviews)
70% of users liked it
(3,280 ratings)

Acclaimed Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa departs from the horror genre for this mystical story of urban ennui. Friends Mamoru (Tadanobu Asano) and Yuji (Joe Odagiri) are aimless young men stuck in dead-end jobs in a dreary factory in Tokyo. Mamoru, the more antisocial of the two, is obsessed… More Acclaimed Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa departs from the horror genre for this mystical story of urban ennui. Friends Mamoru (Tadanobu Asano) and Yuji (Joe Odagiri) are aimless young men stuck in dead-end jobs in a dreary factory in Tokyo. Mamoru, the more antisocial of the two, is obsessed with his pet project of acclimating a poisonous jellyfish to fresh water by gradually changing the water in its tank. One night, he inexplicably murders his boss' family and is sentenced to death. Yuji, left to continue the jellyfish experiment, befriends Mamoru's estranged father, and the two form a bond that helps him overcome his emotional troubles. But his attachment to the jellyfish is even stronger, and problems arise when he accidentally releases the poisonous creature into the canals of Tokyo. ~ Tom Vick, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Written By: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Nov 12, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Mar 8, 2005
Studio: Palm Pictures

Critic Reviews

Ty Burr, Boston Globe
The movie has a curious and cumulative power.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
The most spellbinding aspect of Bright Future is that the surrealism sustains its own squiddish logic, concluding with one of the most breathtaking film finales of the year.
Robert Dominguez, New York Daily News
Pretty to look at, but it's a slow-moving, meandering work that isn't as complex or mysterious as it appears.
Manohla Dargis, New York Times
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, a prolific and sui generis talent from Japan, this quietly creepy film contains a hint of politics and a wealth of shivers.
David Rooney, Variety
The writer-director's story sense is far too distracted, clouding the film's themes and even its basic plotline and allowing only the most glancing insights into its characters.
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
Bright Future can be off-putting -- neither of the two protagonists attempt to engage the camera, and more woe is expended on mourning Mamoru than considering his victims.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Kurosawa's weird look at the empty lives of modern youth is mysteriously eye-catching but nothing deeper.
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film
no less enigmatic, broad-reaching and majestically paced than a jellyfish.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
a genre that's starting to get overplayed
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Had Palm Pictures provided a downloadable screensaver of the film's jellyfish in action, this DVD would have been a keeper.
John Hartl, Seattle Times
Gradually establishes a sense of foreboding that is hard to shake, though it's not without its darkly humorous moments.
Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Kurosawa's mysterious film about Japan's disaffected and alienated youth.
Andrew Wright, The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
No stranger to the bizarro social metaphor, [Kurosawa] somehow paints the film's title as honestly optimistic, winkingly ironic, and completely doom-laden at the same time.
, E! Online
It's a haunting, spooky journey into a world that embraces trippy ambiguity.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
More high -- but strangely touching -- weirdness from acclaimed Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
Aaron Hillis, Premiere Magazine
...an enchantingly cryptic, ethereally photographed slice of somber surrealism that should definitely appeal to fans of David Lynch and Luis Buñuel.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "Bright Future", Mamoru(Tadanobu Asano) and Yuji(Jo Odagiri) are two friends who work in a factory in Tokyo to maintain their slacker lifestyles. Yuji prefers to spend his spare time asleep when he dreams of utopias. When he is not asleep, he goes… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Bright Future", Mamoru(Tadanobu Asano) and Yuji(Jo Odagiri) are two friends who work in a factory in Tokyo to maintain their slacker lifestyles. Yuji prefers to spend his spare time asleep when he dreams of utopias. When he is not asleep, he goes bowling or to the arcade. Mamoru keeps a red jellyfish as a pet which is poisonous. After being offered permanent positions with the company, they become friendly with their boss.[/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Bright Future" starts out creepy before its eccentricities just make it annoying. There is little idea as to what motivates the characters. The film might be a statement about the aimlessness of youth but that does not explain the significance of the jellyfish.[/font]
Lesley N

Japanese fillm about two solitary friends and, initially at least, a jellyfish. Even after watching the whole thing quite carefully, I'm not really sure what the film's trying to say. There's a plot, and action, character development, it's intriguing, and very… More
Japanese fillm about two solitary friends and, initially at least, a jellyfish. Even after watching the whole thing quite carefully, I'm not really sure what the film's trying to say. There's a plot, and action, character development, it's intriguing, and very lovely in places and .... hmm, still no. <br/> <br/><img src="http://www.judexfanzine.net/v1/foto_arxiu/bright_future_1.jpg" />
Anthony V

Right now it's a go.