Cloud Review

Cloud opens in U.S. theaters Friday, July 18.

Cloud, the latest film from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, opens unassumingly enough: An emotionally aloof young man walks briskly into a small warehouse room filled with boxes of medical devices. After negotiating with the seller to buy their inventory for a steep, if not downright exploitative discount, the man drives off with the boxes in tow. Later, he sells them online at a drastic mark-up, reaping a hefty payout. What at first might seem like a dour opening note sets the tone for an unnerving psychological action-thriller about the dark, roiling nature of greed, hubris, envy, and irreconcilable rage at the heart of a world organized around the internet. In Cloud, everyone has a dark side when pushed too far. And I mean everyone.

This shrewd and unrepentantly unscrupulous reseller is Yoshii Ryosuke (Masaki Suda), and that opening is a snapshot of how he makes a living. The art direction expands upon this picture: Yoshii’s cramped apartment is cluttered with his dubiously authentic wares – a monument to his all-consuming obsession with drifting his way to the top. After moving to the countryside with his live-in girlfriend, Akio (Kotone Furukawa), the consequences of these shady business practices catch up with Yoshii: A growing number of disgruntled former customers, covetous onlookers, and violent former associates are hellbent on exacting revenge – be it financial or physical – on him. To survive, he must learn to think on his feet amid all manner of threats to his carefully curated life and the lives of those around him.

With Cloud, Kurosawa circles back to the focus of his 2001 cult classic, Pulse: the damaging societal effects of the Internet age. Only this time, there are no ghosts striking out at the living from the bowels of cyberspace; instead, the story – and the horror therein – is concentrated squarely on Yoshii’s actions. We watch in terror as the repercussions of his fast-and-loose behavior billow up around him like clouds before becoming impossible to ignore or escape. It’s a film about how the internet can both connect people and become a catalyst for conflict, magnifying the worst in us before the vitriol and violence inevitably spills out into the physical world.

Kurosawa’s aptitude for unnerving audiences through careful camerawork and creative framing is evident throughout Cloud, prompting us to scan every darkened corner onscreen, lest we miss a crucial, revelatory, or quietly horrifying detail. It’s a patient, meticulous brand of horror that later explodes into a cacophony of gunfire and a hail of bullets – this is an action film with a horror master’s touch. There are no real jumpscares to be found, that is unless you find yourself taken aback by the sheer lengths people are willing to go in order to harm one another when given the proper motivation or incentive. If so, then you’re in for two-plus hours of jolts.

Suda’s performance as Yoshii is positively chilling, his eyes surveying property and people alike with reptilian detachment, as if subconsciously totalling up the value and cost of each and every interaction. The few moments he does spare emotion – his pupils dilating and breathing becoming more shallow – are either when he’s on the verge of a huge payout or at risk of losing it all. He rebuffs promotions at his day job as at a clothing factory from his boss (Yoshiyoshi Arakawa) and get-rich-quick schemes from his former classmate (Masataka Kubota) with equal, unflappable disdain, remaining laser-focused in his own personal pursuit of wealth, comfort, and success – no matter how many how many lives and dreams he has to shatter to get there. It’s only when Yoshii’s own life spirals out of control that he begins to panic, frantically seizing on any and every opportunity to save his own life, up to and including taking someone else’s.

The road to Hell, to quote Virgil, is easy, and little by little Yoshii paves his own winding path to and through damnation. All the while, Kurosawa chillingly shows us how the actions of one person can impact dozens, if not hundreds of people, and the personal cost one pays in sacrificing the lives and welfare of others in the pursuit of securing their own comfort. By the time he gets there, Yoshii discovers that Hell is a far lonelier place than he ever could’ve imagined.