‘Viral’ Review: Ignorance is a Dangerous Thing
Throughout the film, Kate desperately tries keeping her status as an influential YouTuber; however, her follower and view count crumble, mirroring the world around her.

Film adaptation of an original story from Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum Director and Akutagawa Prize winner Yuichi Seirai, directed by Taro Hyugaji, who made the live-action version of Grave of the Fireflies. Depicts the fateful encounter between a daughter whose mother has died and a mother whose daughter has died. Jazz pianist Makoto Ozone makes his debut as a film composer. University student Kiyomi (Kie Kitano) is wracked by guilt after her mother dies of a heart attack the night they have an argument. Meanwhile, Saori (Izumi Inamori) finds out she is pregnant, but her daughter died a year before, and she is terrified of losing another child.
Throughout the film, Kate desperately tries keeping her status as an influential YouTuber; however, her follower and view count crumble, mirroring the world around her.
The fun tricks used in the production design and lighting read extremely well on-screen but hardly fulfill their purpose of trying to inject glamour into a lack-luster story with nothing to say.
In Stowaway, director Joe Penna narrates the story of a starship crew (Anna Kendrick as Zoe Levenson; Toni Collette as Marina Barnett; and Daniel Dae Kim as David Kim) struggling with serious technical problems on a two-year mission to Mars. During the trip, they discover aboard the presence of Michael (Shamier Anderson), a stowaway who jeopardizes everyone’s life on board.
Alongside A Drowning Man, I Signed The Petition, 3 Logical Exits, and A World Not Ours, A Man Returned continues to paint a realistic portrait of the Refugee Crisis that eschews the Western gaze and stereotype. These are real portraits painted by a director with lived experience, cultural connection and an amazing eye for visuals.