Great Absence

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Great Absence

2024

2h 32m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

88%

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17 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

A father and son who've been estranged for a long time finally reconcile among lost memories and dispersed pieces of lives.

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Claudia Puig

FilmWeek (LAist)

It's quite moving and really noteworthy for the performance of the veteran Japanese actor Tatsuya Fuji.

Aug 3, 2024

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

A beguiling and touching transference of understanding across time and memory.

Jul 29, 2024

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Brian Tallerico

RogerEbert.com

Cconveys the bursts of anger and lashing out that often adjoin dementia, and it makes for a showcase for one of Japan’s best actors.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 21, 2024

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Filipe Freitas

Always Good Movies

With its sensitive and compassionate storytelling, Great Absence gradually breaks your heart.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 16, 2025

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Paul Emmanuel Enicola

The Asian Cut

For all its disorientation, the film is piercingly lucid about what it means to lose someone before they leave this world.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 23, 2025

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Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

There's a tendency in films about dementia to resort to sentiment and cliché, which [Kei] Chika-ura handily avoids in Great Absence, but the directness of Complicity [his previous film] proves more emotionally involving

Rated: 3/4

Jul 16, 2025

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Moody C

It’s a long movie but doesn’t feel too long since story is somewhat captivating. I did enjoyed the local Japan locale - looks like a small town near the beach so quite beautiful and different from the usual busy Tokyo scene. The son goes around town talking to various townspeople to learn more about his dad’s past but may seem confusing at times because these scenes feel disjointed. I can’t really make out what happened to the dad at the very end since storytelling is very subtle and not at all obvious.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/25/24

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Kei Chikaura

Director

Mirai Moriyama

Actor

Tatsuya Fuji

Actor

Yôko Maki

Actor

Hideko Hara

Actor

Kei Chikaura

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Synopsis

A father and son who've been estranged for a long time finally reconcile among lost memories and dispersed pieces of lives.

Director: Kei Chikaura
Producer: Kei Chikaura, Miho Horiike
Screenwriter: Kei Chikaura, Keita Kumano
Distributor: Gaga
Production Co: Creatps, Kodak Japan
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 19, 2024, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $9.8K
Runtime: 2h 32m

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