‘The Young Strangers’: A tough watch but thrillingly alive

With “The Young Strangers,” Takuya Uchiyama has made both one of the bleakest and most bracing films to come out of Japan this year. The 32-year-old’s commercial debut confirms the promise shown by his 2020 indie sleeper hit, “Sasaki in My Mind.” It’s an audacious and emotionally wrenching film. While its displays of virtuoso technique might sometimes distract from the story it’s telling, the cumulative effect left me breathless.

Based on Uchiyama’s original script, this is a tale of two brothers, each trying to work with the miserable hand that life has dealt them. They’re still paying off debts left behind by their late father, a former policeman who met an ignoble demise.

Their mother, Ayami (Reina Kirishima), suffers from early-onset dementia and requires near-constant care — which is hard when you’re holding down two jobs, as older brother Ayato (Hayato Isomura) does. After finishing his daytime construction gig, he works behind the counter at the snack bar that his parents bought together back in happier times.