Red Snow

In a snowy coastal town in northern Japan, a persistent journalist (Arata Iura) reopens a decades-old unsolved case involving the disappearance of a young boy, a mysterious fire and a local outcast largely suspected of wrongdoing who was nevertheless found not guilty. When the victim’s brother (Masatoshi Nagase) and the primary suspect’s troubled daughter (Nahana) get involved, a maelstrom of long-repressed emotions and psychological traumas are reawakened. Written and directed by newcomer Sayaka Kai with a veteran cast, Red Snow is a tense and beautifully-shot mystery thriller that suggests the unreliability of memory in the pursuit of truth. (Japan Cuts)