Owl

The events take place in the late 1970s to around 1980, a period of postwar hardship in rural Japan and within repatriation communities. The setting reflects neglected infrastructure and scarce opportunities, shaping the characters' drastic measures for survival. These conditions frame the moral compromises and lethal choices that drive the plot.

Kibogaoka is a farming village created for Japanese repatriates from Manchuria. By the story's events it is sparsely inhabited and economically strained, a place where basic utilities and resources are fragile. The nearby dam construction site becomes a crucial, yet perilous, source of money and access to electricity and water for the women.

💸 Survival

Survival is pursued at any cost as the mother and daughter exploit men for money to secure food, electricity, and water. The film shows how poverty and isolation can push people to calculated crime, reducing relationships to transactional dynamics. Money becomes the central instrument that sustains life but also intensifies danger and exploitation.

🎭 Morality

The lines between victim and predator blur as deception and murder become tools for survival. The women's actions reveal how societal failures and personal desperation corrode ethical boundaries. The narrative invites reflection on culpability, choice, and the costs of scheming for security.

🌑 Isolation

Kibogaoka's barren setting amplifies isolation, turning the house into a secret-filled space where crimes accumulate unseen. The villagers' separation from broader society allows violence to go unchecked, culminating in a cascade of deaths. The haunting solitude of the environment underlines the tragedy and unfinished history of the village.