Italian Premiere | In Competition | Online
Japan, 2025, 136’, Japanese
Directed by: Nagai Akira
Screenplay: Yatsu Hiroyuki, Yamaura Masahiro
Cinematography (color): Kondo Tetsuya
Editing: Ninomiya Suguru
Producers: Okada Shota, Tadano Yuho
Music: Yaffle
Cast: Yamada Yuki, Sato Jiro, Ito Sairi, Sometani Shota, Bando Ryota, Kanichiro, Watabe Atsuro
Date of First Release in Territory: October 31st, 2025
Based on a best-selling novel by Go Katsuhiro,
Suzuki=Bakudan has a familiar thriller setup. Planted bombs begin going off one by one in Tokyo as panic spreads and police scramble to find the perpetrators.
What sets the film apart from the genre run is the character of Suzuki Tasogaru (Sato Jiro). Arrested by police on an assault charge, this swarthy homeless guy tells his interrogators that he has a psychic sense for crime. That sense, he says, tells him that a bomb will go off in the Akihabara district at 10 pm.
The cops scoff, but Suzuki turns out to be right: A bomb does explode, spreading havoc. The next explosion, Suzuki says, will be at the Tokyo Dome arena.This time, the police ramp up their response. Suzuki’s first interrogator, the cool, contemptuous Todoroki (Sometani Shota) is replaced by the canny smooth-talking veteran Kiyomiya (Watabe Atsuro). “Listening is my specialty,” he says, inviting Suzuki to spill his guts.
Suzuki, however, is not easily manipulated. Mad he may be, but stupid he is not. Over the course of one eventful night and day he plays mind games with the cops as they try to find who he is and what his motives might be, while bombs keep going off.
Suzuki Jiro, who has won several domestic acting prizes for his performance as Suzuki, specializes in marginal characters who impress with the force of their weirdness.
In
Suzuki=Bakudan he has taken the craziness up several notches, especially in his big meltdown scene, when he proclaims his hatred of a long list of types, from homeless guys like himself to pregnant women and happy families. Basically, he hates humanity, while insisting that he is acting under hypnosis.
But as impressive as Sato’s performance is, an entire movie of Suzuki would become oppressive. Thankfully, the drama of the police trying to pry out Suzuki’s secrets while their city is blowing up around them offers not only psychic relief, but also action thrills – and a different perspective on the Japanese cops from the local movie norm.
In their dogged pursuit of clues and their fearless plunge into the darkness and danger of Suzuki’s world, two lowly patrolmen played by Ito Sairi and Bando Ryota fit the genre template. But as directed by Nagai Akira (
Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High), their action scenes have a skin-crawling tension. And, yes, there is an explosion.
Meanwhile, the cops keep switching interrogators, with the last being the wily frizzy-haired Ruike (Yamada Yuki). More than the others he is on Suzuki’s wavelength, ruthlessness included. “You and I are simpatico,” Suzuki tells him at one point, which is what no sane human wants to hear.
By the time the interrogators are finished with Suzuki, he has done more than blow up Tokyo landmarks. Like all great villains, he has a monstrous charisma that insinuates itself into our brains. And even a dark wisdom: “Selfishness is the sad truth of humanity,” he tells Ruike.
But as
Suzuki=Bakudan also shows us, particularly in the selfless deeds of Ito and Bando’s dedicated young cops, it’s not the whole truth.
Nagai Akira
Nagai Akira (b. 1970) switched from painting to filmmaking in university and in 1994 joined CM production giant AOI Pro, where he rose to Chief Creative Officer while winning industry awards. He made his directorial debut with the 2005 anthology film All About My Dog. Subsequent films include the hit fantasy drama If Cats Disappeared from the World (2016), the teen political comedy Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High (FEFF 2017), and the thriller Character (2021). His latest is the thriller Suzuki=Bakudan (2025), another Udine FEFF selection.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
2005 – All About My Dog
2016 – If Cats Disappeared from the World
2017 – Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High
2021 – Character
2025 – Suzuki=Bakudan