Love and Other Cults

The latest irreverent black comedy from Eiji Uchida (Greatful Dead, Lowlife Love) is a wild tale of gangs, cult religion, and love in backwater Japan. Touching on such social issues as child neglect, teenage delinquency, and the sex industry, it is centered on the the lives of marginalized teens Ryota and Ai (Sairi Ito) as they struggle to escape their rotten world. Ryota wants a normal life, only to fall in love with Ai and follow her down deeper and seedier paths. Ai has fended for herself from an early age, drifting from a neglectful mother to an oddball cult, with a brief attempt at normal school before bouncing from a druggie dropout community to a middle-class family. Among the strong, young leads (including a bunch of Sion Sono regulars) are some real local delinquents, ensuring that the film had to be shot under police supervision. North American Premiere.