Q&A with Mayu Nakamura

A cultural milestone in Japan, Intimate Stranger is a disturbing psychological chiller about a single mother’s search for her missing son. Award-winning documentarian Mayu Nakamura defies the tacit ban on depicting a sensual 40-something female protagonist, and shines a light on the country’s overly clingy mother-son relationships. Reminiscent of J-horror in its bleak color palette, skin-crawling sense of claustrophobia, and odd set design, the film follows Megumi as she meets Yuji, who claims to know the whereabouts of her son. A strange bond develops between the two broken souls as they attempt to extract secrets from each other, while the roles of predator and prey unexpectedly switch. 

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