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Desert of Namibia

Play trailer Poster for Desert of Namibia In Theaters Fri May 16 2h 17m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 7 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Verified Ratings
DESERT OF NAMIBIA follows mercurial 21-year-old Kana (Yuumi Kawai), a hair-removal technician at a salon in Tokyo, who bristles against the beauty expectations placed on women her age. Her erratic mood and default to self-destruct impacts all of her relationships, as moments of levity erupt into violence and optimism simmers to despair. The award-winning Kawai embodies Kana with an emotional intensity and clear-eyed precision that evokes Gena Rowlands in Cassavettes' A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE. Yamanaka's sophomore work sculpts a subtle intimacy reminiscent of Pialat's À NOS AMOURS, and masterfully conveys the chaos and disarray of a young woman at odds with the world as much as with herself.
Coming Soon In Theaters Fri May 16 Reserve Tickets

Cast & Crew

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Yoko Yamanaka

Director

Yumi Kawai

Kana

Keisuke Horibe

Koichiro

Daichi Kaneko

Hayashi

Kanichiro

Honda

Yuzumi Shintani

Ichika

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Siddhant Adlakha Variety Holds and zooms for hilariously, sometimes painfully long. Your mileage may vary, as the film has a tendency to meander off course, but that is exactly its intention. Jun 1, 2024 Full Review Fionnuala Halligan Screen International A vague reference to mental health problems doesn’t come in enough time to rescue either Kana or the film. May 19, 2024 Full Review Dustin Chang ScreenAnarchy The dissociation is a dominant feature in the film. With handheld camera work and long takes in tiny spaces, Yamanaka expertly captures the intimacy and suffocation that Kana feels. Mar 30, 2025 Full Review Paul Emmanuel Enicola The Movie Buff Whether she’s impulsively throwing herself into a new relationship or staring blankly at a world that no longer registers, Kawai ensures that even in Kana’s stillest moments, there’s something roiling underneath. Rated: C+ Mar 16, 2025 Full Review Pieter-Jan Van Haecke Psychocinematography Yamanaka, by expertly exploiting imagery and sound, does not only bring the spectator into contact with the void that ails the contemporary subject, but lets him fleetingly experience it or re-discover its presence within himself. Nov 16, 2024 Full Review Mark Schilling Japan Times Kawai’s masterful, multilayered performance, which presents Kana more as willful and lost than born bad and raised wrong, both exposes and humanizes her. Sep 5, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis DESERT OF NAMIBIA follows mercurial 21-year-old Kana (Yuumi Kawai), a hair-removal technician at a salon in Tokyo, who bristles against the beauty expectations placed on women her age. Her erratic mood and default to self-destruct impacts all of her relationships, as moments of levity erupt into violence and optimism simmers to despair. The award-winning Kawai embodies Kana with an emotional intensity and clear-eyed precision that evokes Gena Rowlands in Cassavettes' A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE. Yamanaka's sophomore work sculpts a subtle intimacy reminiscent of Pialat's À NOS AMOURS, and masterfully conveys the chaos and disarray of a young woman at odds with the world as much as with herself.
Director
Yoko Yamanaka
Producer
Keisuke Konishi, Shinji Ogawa, Masashi Yamada, Tokuji Suzuki
Screenwriter
Yoko Yamanaka
Distributor
Kani Releasing
Production Co
Bridgehead, Cogito Works
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
May 16, 2025, Limited
Runtime
2h 17m