Whale Bones

2023 1h 28m JA

🙌

8.0

BANGER

★8.0TMDB · 1

DramaMysteryThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Recently dumped by his fiancée, Mamiya meets a girl on a dating app. However, when he comes out of the shower, the girl is dead on his bed. Upset Mamiya decides to bury the body in the woods, however it mysteriously disappears from his car trunk... When he finds out that she is a popular influencer of the SNS called “Mimi”, he follows her footsteps which she left on Mimi, and slowly becomes attracted to the girl who turns out to be just as lonely as he is.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Motoki Ochiai
ano
Mayuu Yokota
Ayaka Onishi
Haruka Uchimura
Takumi Matsuzawa
Toshiaki Inomata
Shohei Uno

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Takamasa Oe
Writers: Takamasa Oe, Kaito Kikuchi
Languages: Japanese

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 3 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Takamasa Oe, shot by Shin Yonekura. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michihiko Nishiyama shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Motoki Ochiai and ano and Mayuu Yokota carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt28153529 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 1 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Takamasa Oe directs. Shin Yonekura behind the camera. Michihiko Nishiyama cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released 3 years ago.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Takamasa Oe, shot by Shin Yonekura. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Michihiko Nishiyama shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Motoki Ochiai and ano and Mayuu Yokota carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt28153529 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 1 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Shin Yonekura
Editing: Michihiko Nishiyama
Production design: Tomoko Tanaka
Makeup / hair: Keiko Kazama
Sound: Tatsuya Obo
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Status: Released
Original language: JA
IMDB: Whale Bones (2023)

Also by

Takamasa Oe

Community reviews

What people are saying

MichaelChoi2023-07-08
★ 6/10
Whale Bones (鯨の骨), 2023 OE Takamasa, 6/10 stars, a man meets a high school girl who turns out to be a social influencer with a cult following. Does she suddenly die or not, and what is the outcome of following her cryptic clues? Ano is possibly the cutest actress of all the movies at Bucheon Film Festival (BIFAN) but story marred by tedious and predictable passages.