The Stars and the Moon are Holes in the Sky

2025 2h 2m JA

😐

5.3

MID

★5.3TMDB · 3

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A 40-something disillusioned novelist, Yazoe, haunted by a failed marriage and a crippling personal secret, navigates hollow affairs with a courtesan named Chieko while projecting his emotional void onto the protagonists of his love novels—until an accidental encounter with a naive college student, Noriko Seyawa, unravels his guarded solitude, forcing him to confront his fear of intimacy and the buried trauma shaping his twisted philosophy on love.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Go Ayano
Katsuji Yazoe
Sakuya
Noriko Segawa
Rena Tanaka
Chieko
Tasuku Emoto
Junko Miyashita
Akari Misaki
MINAMO
Kazuo Hara
man in bar

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Haruhiko Arai
Writers: Haruhiko Arai
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

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

ERA

Did you know

Released last year.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CRAFT

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Haruhiko Arai, shot by Koichi Kawakami. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Itsuro Shimoda. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Chieko Suzaki 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

Go Ayano and Sakuya and Rena Tanaka carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt39308947 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 3 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Haruhiko Arai directs. Koichi Kawakami behind the camera. Itsuro Shimoda scores. Chieko Suzaki cuts. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released last year.
2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
3Directed by Haruhiko Arai, shot by Koichi Kawakami. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Itsuro Shimoda. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Chieko Suzaki shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Go Ayano and Sakuya and Rena Tanaka carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt39308947 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 3 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.