Concrete

Driven by burnout from his low-paying jobs, Tatsuo joins the yakuza to raise money for his future marriage to Kayoko Matsuyama. He forms the Ryujin gang as a vehicle for crime and influence. He begins recruiting friends to carry out robberies and other offenses to prove himself.

The gang tightens its grip as they commit robberies to fund their operations and status. Tatsuo grows more confident in enforcing the gang's will and begins orchestrating violent acts to please their seniors. The line between petty crime and brutal abuse becomes increasingly blurred.

One night, Misaki, a high school student, is seen riding home on her bike and is knocked over by one of the boys. Tatsuo pretends to help her but reveals his predatory intent, setting the stage for what follows. The encounter marks Misaki as the gang’s next target.

Misaki is brought to the home of Takao Matsuyama, a friend and Kayoko's brother, where the gang's coercion and control over her begins in earnest. The setting shifts from the street to a private residence, increasing the sense of confinement. The plan to subdue her becomes more organized.

Inside Takao's house, the boys commit brutal acts, including inserting foreign objects and beating Misaki. They force her to lie to her parents that she is staying at a friend's house, showing a calculated attempt to erase her track. The cruelty marks a turning point in the violence.

Misaki manages to escape the house twice, the second time with help from Takao's mother. Each attempt underscores her resilience but also deepens the gang’s resolve to control her fate. The escape attempts heighten the peril surrounding Misaki.

The gang tightens its grip further as Misaki is punished after capture, including having her leg doused in lighter fluid and burned. Tatsuo also punishes Takao's mother and warns the others not to show any sympathy or assist Misaki. The violence becomes more systematic and cruel.

Misaki endures repeated abuses that leave her incontinent and dehydrated. She pleads for water, but is taunted by the gang, revealing a chilling erosion of empathy. The brutality continues with little to no mercy.

In a final, brutal act, Tatsuo beats Misaki further and drops a barbell on her stomach, fatally wounding her. The gang briefly shifts focus as they process the killing. The murder marks a definitive collapse of any remaining veneer of control.

The members leave the house to relax at a sauna, momentarily disconnecting from the atrocity they have committed. Misaki lies dying or already gone ahead of them, and her last wish is to stay strong. The contrast between their detachment and her suffering is stark.

Returning from the sauna, Misaki becomes unresponsive as Tatsuo tests a cigarette near her nose and she does not respond. The group decides to conceal the murder, signaling the onset of their attempt to erase the crime. The atmosphere thickens with the weight of what they have done.

Tatsuo arranges a cover-up by retrieving a concrete drum from his old job and burying Misaki's body in it. The drum is then placed in an open field, an attempt to hide the evidence from the world. The grim practicality of the disposal underscores the cold calculation behind the act.

Eventually all of the boys are arrested. A detective who had previously met Tatsuo angrily calls him a demon seed for minimizing his role, insisting that he killed at least one person. The interrogation lays bare the moral indictment of Tatsuo’s actions.

The site where Misaki's body is found becomes a gravesite as her voiceover asks, through the audience, whether people realize how precious life is. The moment frames the entire tragedy with a poignant, existential echo. It leaves a haunting reminder of the cost of violence.

The film ends with an image of Tatsuo crying in a dark room, unable to make a mangled bird fly from his hand. The closure suggests his failed attempt at self-justification or redemption. It leaves the audience with a stark, unresolved sense of guilt.