Kotoko

Shinya Tsukamoto : 2011

For Kotoko, a young mother who suffers from double vision, caring for her baby is a nerve-wracking task that eventually leads her to a nervous breakdown. With a fragile grip on reality, she fiercely protects her son from what she imagines are constant predatory threats. Even when he is in her arms, Kotoko's fraying mind envisions death around every corner. As fantasies overwhelm her, she is suspected of being a child abuser and is forced to give up her child to face her manic highs and terrifying bouts of paralysis alone. She cuts herself, hoping to feel her body and jump-start its survival mechanisms. The sudden appearance of Tanaka, a novelist who has followed Kotoko's deterioration from a distance, offers momentary relief before her instability overwhelms her. This tightly crafted, sharply edited and visually startling film creates a harrowing vision of a world where nothing you see can be trusted.