Ride or Die

First of all, the fact that a female-led LGBT movie made it to Netflix Japan is huge considering Japan has very little representation.

Lots of great qualities about this movie. The acting and cinematography is different from normal Japanese films, which often show acting that is over dramatized to force humor. This film doesn't do that. Kiko and the supporting lead actress did a great job playing complex characters that take the whole movie to fully understand.

The cinematography also showcased lower class life in rural parts of Japan, which often get overlooked in Japanese films that make it abroad.

However, I think American viewers who mostly watch American films might not understand this film, and many of those viewers will likely complain about the length. American films used to be long, too, but later became no longer than 90 minutes because Americans' attention spans are just too short these days. Current Hollywood films contain scene after scene of "in your face" drama and action, sacrificing artistic film for purely entertainment. Perhaps that works for super hero and comedy films, but Ride or Die isn't this type of film. American movies also stop short of explaining the ending of films, but this movie takes you to the very end.

Japanese art and TV are *masters* of displaying the subtleties of everyday life and the tenderness of human emotion and connection. That's exactly what's happening in the parts of this film that some Americans may consider "slow." If you have an understanding of Japanese culture and art, then this will make sense as you watch the film. There is also a strong culture of natsukashii/nostalgic-ness, especially pertaining to high school, in pop culture here in Japan, which explains the number of flashbacks to high school.

Those people who are complaining about Kiko's nudity don't understand who Kiko is. She is not the run-of-the-mill actress/model. She is very body-positive and lives to push the boundaries on what society deems acceptable.

That said, I think it's a fantastic piece of art if you're willing to try understanding the film through a non-American lens, but it's definitely not for suited for everyone.

I liked the purity of this film. Really felt the passion from the actors in this. Cute, sad, happy all at the same time.

This is a well crafted movie with some beautiful dark romance. The story is all interesting, sweet, thrilling, sad and crazy, it's also well written and unfolds beautifully. Cinematography is nice as well. Lead performances are superb and the chemistry between them is awesome with an obvious passion. But it's nonsensical sometimes, and so long and slow-paced.

I think that this movie show us the dark side of love, it show us what we would capable of when we love someone. The movie has a lot of nudity and blood at the beginning so don't see if you are sensitive.

Kinda hard at first, but as the movie continues you get attached to the story and its a 2hour journey of many feelings while watching it, loved so much the performances by the two actresses, it was the first time I've watched their work, I have to say, big round of applause for kiko mizuhara, she carried the movie graciously, her performance was on point.