Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

A Pale View of Hills

Play trailer A Pale View of Hills 2025 2h 3m Drama History Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
63% Tomatometer 16 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Desperate to understand her family's past in Japan before her birth, Niki probes her mother, Etsuko, about their time in Nagasaki. Told through flashbacks, Etsuko recounts the tale of a friend she knew long ago.... Spanning the two timelines, the film is a moving and hopeful account of the generational impact of war and tragedy on one family.

Critics Reviews

View More
Namrata Joshi The New Indian Express Sep 1
The many ambiguities often make things irritatingly convoluted and the acting, other than from Hirose and Yoshida, is not layered enough to deliver on the emotions, intrigues and the complexities. Go to Full Review Guy Lodge Variety May 21
Ishikawa never finds a narratively satisfying way to present ambiguities that can shimmer more nebulously on the page, building to a reveal that feels overwrought and rug-pulling. Go to Full Review Lovia Gyarkye The Hollywood Reporter May 18
The impact of A Pale View of Hills is blunted by a tendency to over-explain and flatten. Still, there are some highlights, including the relationship between Etsuko and Sachiko. Go to Full Review Amelia Harvey Movies We Texted About Nov 19
Ultimately, A Pale View of Hills suffers from the pitfalls of adapting literature for the big screen. It simply can’t penetrate the psyche of repressed and ambiguous characters to maintain the nuance without distancing the audience. Go to Full Review Robert Stinner In Review Online Sep 15
A Pale View of Hills ultimately does not outmatch its formidable source material, but Ishikawa has crafted an admirable counterpart. Go to Full Review Christopher Llewellyn Reed Film Festival Today Sep 15
3/5
Though committedly elliptical to a fault, "A Pale View of Hills" nevertheless offers us a chance to bask in Suzu Hirose’s performance. That’s well worth the accompanying frustrations of such an opaque final enigma. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
A Pale View of Hills

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Kei Ishikawa

Director

Suzu Hirose

Niki

Fumi Nikaidô

Actor

Yô Yoshida

Actor

Camilla Aiko

Actor

Kouhei Matsushita

Actor
View All

A Pale View of Hills

A Pale View of Hills (2025) A Pale View of Hills (2025) A Pale View of Hills (2025) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Desperate to understand her family's past in Japan before her birth, Niki probes her mother, Etsuko, about their time in Nagasaki. Told through flashbacks, Etsuko recounts the tale of a friend she knew long ago.... Spanning the two timelines, the film is a moving and hopeful account of the generational impact of war and tragedy on one family.
Director
Kei Ishikawa
Producer
Miyuki Fukuma, Marta Gmosinska
Screenwriter
Kei Ishikawa
Production Co
Bunbuku
Genre
Drama, History
Original Language
Japanese
Runtime
2h 3m