In the Wake

A strange serial murder case unfolds in Sendai, nine years after the city was ravaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami: two social workers are found starved to death after being tied up and abandoned. Both were involved in the processing of welfare benefit claims after the disaster.

Prefectural investigator TOMASHINO (ABE Hiroshi) identifies TONE (SATOH Takeru), an ex-convict trying to rebuild his life after serving prison time for arson and assault, as a prime suspect in the case. But the evidence still doesn’t fully come together. If TOMASHINO is to solve this mystery, he must delve beyond the surface into the roots of the case and face truths about the 2011 disaster that will change the system forever.

Directed by ZEZE Takahisa (Tomorrow’s Dinner Table, JFTFP22; My Friend ‘A’, JFTFP19), In the Wake is a taut social thriller that probes into the meaning of responsibility and the reality of social injustice affecting those in need.

東日本大震災後の復興が進む仙台で発生した連続殺人事件をめぐり、生活保護制度の欠陥に迫る社会派ミステリー。2人のソーシャル・ワーカーが
両手を縛られ餓死した状態で発見される。捜査一課の刑事である笘篠が怨恨の線から捜査を開始するが、この謎を解くには2011年の災害の真実に向き合わなければいけない。本作は第45回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品賞を受賞。

(Special thanks to Eikoku News Digest)