Review | Kyrie movie review: confusing Shunji Iwai music drama starring Japanese singer Aina the End will leave many frustrated
- Japanese singer Aina the End plays Kyrie, a singer in the present, traumatised by Japan’s Tohoku earthquake, and her older sister, also called Kyrie, in 2011
- If that wasn’t confusing enough the chronology is jumbled, and an hour has been cut from the version shown at festivals, leaving gaps in backstories
2/5 stars
Japanese singer Aina the End lands the lead role in director Shunji Iwai’s latest drama, as a traumatised musician navigating the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast of the country’s main island, Honshu.
Based on Iwai’s own novel, Kyrie is an effective showcase for the former Bish idol group member’s distinctive husky vocals, but the film’s jumbled chronology makes for a needlessly confusing watch.
Its disorientating structure is made worse by the fact that Aina plays two roles in the film: Kyrie, a young woman in her early twenties who has lost her voice and can only communicate through song; and her older sister, also named Kyrie, in extended flashbacks set in 2011.
Making an already convoluted scenario worse, the theatrical release of Kyrie is a whole hour shorter than the three-hour cut that played at festivals earlier this year. While this two-hour version already threatens to outstay its welcome, the film feels like it’s missing huge swathes of crucial backstory.
The songs, which constitute Kyrie’s primary emotional outlet, are also reduced to frustrating snippets in Iwai’s efforts to contain his vision to a commercially viable length.