
After her husband vanishes and leaves her drowning in debt, Ayano and her son flee, only to find refuge in the home of her brother-in-law, Mitsuru. But safety comes with a price, as Mitsuru forces himself on her while the debt collectors close in. Witnessing his mother's humiliation, her son snaps and commits an irreversible act. Stranded in the frozen north, the mother and son are pushed to the very edge of sanity and survival.








For this director, the dramatic quality is quite high. The opening, which hints at an intense incestuous relationship with her son, makes the decision to kick him out of the house to be with the debt collector very effective. The sequence where she is forced to submit to her stepbrother immediately after being violated by the debt collector, without even time to put her clothes back on in exchange for debt relief, was also well-directed. The final incest scene successfully captures the extreme, isolated dynamic of a son who killed his mother's violator and a mother who decides to protect him. While the acting is a bit lacking and the final scene ending in a chest shot highlights the limitations of the studio (Madonna), the overall quality of the work is high. Five stars might be a bit generous, but it's easily a four-and-a-half.