Online Grift Leads to Real Consequences in a Thrilling, Unconventional Story

Erratic yet prolific Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, known for his unique touch in films like “Pulse” and “Cure,” has a knack for finding strangeness often cloaked in the mundane aspects of modern life. In “Cloud,” Japan’s submission for the International Oscar, Kurosawa offers a compellingly enigmatic story. The film begins as an offbeat internet-age drama but soon unravels into a deconstructed vengeance narrative, almost abstract in its existential depth. Think Samuel Beckett with a modern-day twist.

The story pivots around Yoshii, played by the incredibly engaging Masaki Suda. By day, Yoshii is an average worker at a clothing factory, seemingly detached from his job. However, online, he assumes the alias “Ratel” and runs a shady reselling business that is his true passion and main source of income. The film opens with Yoshii negotiating a deal for “therapy machines.” Despite his lowball offer, the desperate manufacturer agrees to sell him all 30 units. Yoshii spends the evening selling the machines online at a significant profit, exhibiting a rare moment of satisfaction. Yet, like any gambler, his contentment is fleeting as he craves his next big win.

Yoshii’s world includes his girlfriend Akiko, portrayed by Kotone Furukawa, whose materialistic desires he caters to without revealing his actual earnings. His mentor in the reselling business, Muraoka (played by Masataka Kubota), is becoming less relevant as Yoshii’s success grows. Beneath Yoshii’s mild-mannered exterior lies a brewing sense of avarice and ego. After a significant financial gain, he disdainfully rejects a promotion at the factory and declines Muraoka’s offer for a joint venture. He instead opts to intensify his solo e-commerce efforts, moving into a spacious lake house under the pretense of a lifestyle upgrade. There, he employs a local kid named Sano (Daiken Okudaira) as his assistant, with strict instructions never to touch his computer.

Yoshii’s sudden move isn’t without reason. Although unaware of the full extent, he knows that his online dealings have made him enemies. Incidents like a dead rat on his doorstep and a trip wire accident signal that he’s not just unpopular; he’s in danger. These threats follow him and Akiko to their new home. Meanwhile, authorities begin to circle around Yoshii’s latest scam involving counterfeit designer handbags, leaving him isolated and vulnerable if the threats escalate.

The situation does escalate dramatically. Until this point, the story has maintained a loose sense of plausibility, enriched by DP Yasuyuki Sasaki’s cinematography, which casts a shadowy, perilous tone even in the most mundane environments. But as Yoshii’s wronged associates band together, they become a collective force against him. The tension culminates in a humorously dark, slow-burn multiplayer shootout reminiscent of a video game. In one standout scene, Yoshii and his lone ally use crumbling walls for cover, like a live-action sequence from Call of Duty.

In the film’s final moments, an apocalyptic backdrop and doom-laden dialogue hint at a broader scope, contrasting the previously small-scale, gritty motivations of the characters. Despite his manipulations on the Dark Web, Yoshii isn’t a clear-cut villain, nor are his aggressors simple victims. They represent various points on the spectrum of luck and misfortune inherent in the ruthless economics of modern online life. The anonymity of the internet offers a sinister comfort—no longer do you have to face the person you’re deceiving. “Cloud” cleverly imagines a world where every click of a cursor might as well be the cocking of a loaded gun.

Source: assorted films