《饥饿的狮子》

The insatiable* appetite for scandal exhibited by sensational news outlets and social media networks frames “The Hungry Lion,” a realistic drama charting the public defamation* of a defenseless high school student. Often bleak* and occasionally anxiety-inducing, Takaomi Ogata’s feature seems destined for a brief tour of the international film festival circuit before perhaps securing a slot with some brave streaming platform.

Popular Tokyo high school junior Hitomi (Urara Matsubayashi) has a close circle of friends, a doting* boyfriend and a comfortable home life, despite her single mother’s (Mariko Tsutsui) busy schedule and frequent absence from home.

When one of her teachers gets arrested for sex with a minor and a mobile phone video begins circulating of him with a girl looking like Hitomi, she dismisses* the rumor that she’s been having an affair with him.

Confident of her reputation, she goes on happily dating Hiroki (Atomu Mizuishi) and socializing with her friends.

As gossip about Hitomi spreads across social media, she begins to receive harassing* messages on her mobile and her sister Asuka (Miku Uehara) complains of being bullied at school over the alleged incident. Things take a somber turn after the school authorities put Hitomi on an abrupt leave of absence. Her mother demands an explanation, but the girl assures that she’s not at all involved with the teacher. When Hiroki withdraws and stops returning her calls, Hitomi realizes that the situation has gotten out of her control, but by then it’s too late for any sort of remediation*.

Once tragedy inevitably strikes, the damage gets compounded by media outlets ambushing Hitomi’s family, friends and schoolmates for interviews and ill-informed commentary.

As public condemnation of her behavior intensifies, Hitomi takes drastic action.

By dissecting the rising social condemnation surrounding an ordinary teenager’s behavior, Ogata exposes not just the victim, but all of those who judge her and attempt to disassociate themselves from their own unseemly* actions.

(SD-Agencies)