Alienated youth is one of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's favorite themes. Bright Future is an alternately comic and macabre portrait of a deranged friendship.

| Sep 29, 2017

Gradually establishes a sense of foreboding that is hard to shake, though it's not without its darkly humorous moments.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 28, 2005

The movie has a curious and cumulative power.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 14, 2005

The most spellbinding aspect of Bright Future is that the surrealism sustains its own squiddish logic, concluding with one of the most breathtaking film finales of the year.

| Original Score: B+ | Nov 17, 2004

Pretty to look at, but it's a slow-moving, meandering work that isn't as complex or mysterious as it appears.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 12, 2004

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, a prolific and sui generis talent from Japan, this quietly creepy film contains a hint of politics and a wealth of shivers.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 11, 2004

The writer-director's story sense is far too distracted, clouding the film's themes and even its basic plotline and allowing only the most glancing insights into its characters.

| Nov 11, 2004

Bright Future can be off-putting -- neither of the two protagonists attempt to engage the camera, and more woe is expended on mourning Mamoru than considering his victims.

Full Review | Nov 9, 2004

Kurosawa strains to find a parallel between jellyfish and his characters' disaffections.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 30, 2004

Yet another film about disaffected, aimless Asian youth.

Full Review | May 21, 2003