The setting is simultaneously breathtaking and heartbreaking.

Himizu is still not an easy film to like, but the topicality of its message about national pain and rebuilding could attract some offshore sales following its Venice and Toronto debuts.

[Mr. Sono] gives the film a harrowing cacophony and a sense of trauma with sound effects, including subtle echoes.

It's the compelling duo at the center of the film that lends a sincerity often absent from Sono's oeuvre.