by Charles Kirkland Jr.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud is a suspenseful thriller in which a young internet reseller, Ryosuke Yoshii
(Masaki Suda) ignites a cyber-fueled storm of malice. Blurring digital and physical threats, it’s a chili
dive into the dark side of modern connectivity.
Ryosuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda), is a factory worker in Tokyo who makes extra money reselling goods online
under a pseudonym. After a successful stint, he quits his job and relocates to the countryside with his
girlfriend, hiring a local young man to help with his reselling business. However, Yoshii’s seemingly idyllic
life is shattered by mysterious attacks from unknown assailants, dismantling his peace as he discovers
multiple enemies targeting him.
Cloud is the fifty-eighth film written and the sixty-sixth film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Kurosawa has
a history of making psychological thrillers that challenge social norms by illustrating the foibles of
character that exist within most people. Cloud does much of the same.
Ryosuke is obsessed with making a quick buck by selling merchandise that are either cheap knock-offs or
products he received at a severe discount often preying upon the financial insecurities of those he
encounters. But Ryosuke is just a stylized example of a large portion of the internet community that
attempts to cash in on get-rich-quick schemes by either selling merchandise or parts of themselves. It is
because of this charm of the internet, the “cloud”, that the audience admires Ryosuke and we excuse his
behavior, even when he starts to get his comeuppance in a very violent way.
This movie, however, fails to rise to the level of excellence in commentary that other Kurosawa films
have. Cloud devolves from a psychological thriller into a violent action drama during its third act. In this
third act, the character and motivations of every person become undeniably clear even though they
have been hinted at through the prior acts of the film.
While there are no official content warnings for the film, Cloud is a violent tale that lacks complexity and
depth. It is a straightforward action drama that comes to a predictable ugly conclusion for most of the
cast. The simplicity of the story and the direct nature of the plot allow for little surprise but somehow
seem to manage to entertain.
Grade: C-