Faceless

Story: Keiichi Kaburagi (Ryusei Yokohama) is found at a crime scene covered in blood and with a sickle in his hand. He is accused of having slaughtered the family who lived there, but he protests his innocence. The only witness is traumatized, and the investigating detective Matanuki (Takayuki Yamada) soon gets the testimony from her that he needs to put Kaburagi in prison. So, the 18-year-old is sentenced to death. Three years later, however, he manages to escape from prison. From then on, he works on a construction site and slowly becomes friends with his colleague Nonomura (Shintaro Morimoto). But since the police are looking for the fugitive under high pressure and with the help of the population and the media, Nonomura soon finds out his true identity. Kaburagi has to change his looks again and needs to find another job. Eventually, he earns his living as a freelancer for an online newspaper. There, Ando (Riho Yoshioka) wants to convince him to work full-time for the company. One day, when she meets him by chance on the street, she invites him to dinner and finds out that he has no place to stay at the moment. She offers to let him stay with her for a while and the two become friends over time. But once more, Kaburagi is not careful enough, and the police are on his tail again...

Review: "Faceless" is one of those thrillers that examines the faith in the legal system and wants to criticize how sloppy or driven by a political agenda some investigations can turn out, so that innocent people end up behind bars. At the very beginning you might still be unsure whether Kaburagi might not be the villain after all, but the movie quickly creates certainty, which should be quite practical for most viewers. Because, after all, who wants to sympathize with a murderer? For that to work, the circumstances and the script would have to hit home, and acting-wise every little nuance would need to be perfect. But "Faceless" doesn't make it that difficult for itself, instead it follows in the footsteps of "The Fugitive". Soon we also realize that the movie has something episodic about it, as Kaburagi constantly has to move on and change his appearance. The people he meets, as well as his new identity, always let new facets of his character shine through, and so perhaps the biggest fun of the movie is to gradually piece together the convicted murderer's "true identity" (which is also the movie's original title). On the other hand, if you expect a thriller, in which the mystery of the real murderer is solved, you will probably be disappointed.

The story is quite detailed and works a lot with its characters, which is probably also due to the fact that it is based on a novel by Tamehito Somai. It was already produced as a four-episode series in 2022, but in this current adaptation, the cuts between the various locations don't seem as glaring as you might fear, for which you have to give the movie huge credit. The individual characters who meet the alleged murderer are also able to show their rough edges in the short time they get on screen and therefore turn out quite memorable. At least Saki, who has just finished school, is briefly introduced beforehand so that later on it doesn't seem as if she was just thrown into the movie as an afterthought. The transition between the construction worker Nonomura and the journalist Ando is done well enough so that you don't feel like you're in another movie. The focus is mainly on Kaburagi's relationship with Ando, which gets a romantic touch but never gets too flat. Ando is also the engine that brings all three people together towards the end. Because none of the three believe that Kaburagi could be a murderer - he is simply too nice for that and enriches the lives of the people around him too much.

The police investigations are quite disappointing, though. Takayuki Yamada ("Monsterz") plays the detective who chases after the protagonist, and although it is clear that he is only following orders from above and is actually a coward who is not interested in the truth - despite knowing it -, he is not even hateful. He is probably not supposed to be, but instead of having a few nuanced character traits, he simply remains wooden. With that, the movie misses out on providing a decent antagonist. Another thing that doesn't quite work is the fact that Kaburagi is actually looking for the real killer or for someone who can prove his innocence. It is not at all integrated into the story in a meaningful way and it also seems a bit forced towards the end. All in all, you shouldn't expect too much from the finale, but since this isn't an action movie, very few probably will. At least there are a few chases during which the camera stays close to the action and manages to capture a rushed feeling quite nicely. Also, a little drama towards the end is, of course, pre-programmed. Here, the movie is also said to deviate from the book, but that probably fits better with the general tone of the flick.

The story mainly rests on the shoulders of leading actor Ryusei Yokohama ("Village"), but he is able to deliver without any problems. This is a special achievement because Kaburagi always has to be a little different in the roles he plays in order not to be discovered. However, at his core he also has to be recognizable as the same person. In the end, it almost feels like some kind of catharsis to see the real Kaburagi, even if a little bit more of that would have been nice. Moreover, both the predictable drama and the fact that it seems as if several epilogues were consecutively strung together has to be criticized. As it gets a little tiring. Nevertheless, director Michihito Fujii ("The Parades") knows how to capture the drama compellingly without becoming too melodramatic. But that might in fact bother some people, because there are viewers who enjoy shedding a tear every now and then. Which will be a bit difficult here. Nonetheless, the ending is satisfying, as it obviously achieves what it set out to do.

When everything is said and done, you still have to ask yourself whether "Faceless" couldn't have fleshed out the socio-critical aspect a little better, though. It wouldn't have been impossible to include the search for the real killer in the movie in a more exciting way. Admittedly, though, it brings a breath of fresh air into the story that the killer just appears at some point. And the fact that people prefer to call him a copycat killer instead of considering the most obvious explanation also tells a lot. But we remain short on answers in this respect. Nevertheless, "Faceless" works quite well as a character drama with well-written individuals and never gets boring. It's easy to imagine that the material might be adapted into another series which could then be expanded by a few episodes. This way the characters could get a little more time, and the hunt for the real murderer could be pushed a little further into the foreground without taking away screen time from the individuals. However, "Faceless" still turns out to be a recommendable thriller drama that is surprisingly life-affirming.

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