Gravity’s Clown (2009)

Directed by Mori Junichi (Laundry), Gravity’s Clowns (a.k.a. A Pierrot ) breaks down the modern family through an emotionally haunting suspense drama. Based on a novel by Isaka Kotaro whose Accuracy of Death was also recently adapted for the big screen, A Pierrot revolves around a family of four with a complicated past that brews mystery and trouble in the present. Kase Ryo (I Just Didn’t Do It) and Okada Masaki (Halfway) form the core of the film as brothers who may be more different than anyone expected, while Kohinata Fumiyo and Suzuki Kyoka play the parents. Also co-starring Yoshitaka Yuriko (Snakes and Earrings) and Okada Yoshinori (Kisarazu Cat’s Eye), A Pierrot explores the role of genetics in determining families and individuals as well as the nature versus nurture debate, giving the film’s unsettling mystery an intriguing and affecting spin.
On the outset, the Okunos seem like a normal happy family with father Tadashi (Kohinata Fumiyo), mother Rieko (Suzuki Kyoka), and their two bright sons, genetics researcher Izumi (Kase Ryo) and artsy Haru (Okada Masaki). When a series of arson attacks strike the neighborhood, clues left at the crime scenes all seem to be somehow related to the Okunos. Izumi tries to get to the bottom of mystery, slowly unveiling a tragic family secret that has come back to haunt them.