Celebrated filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi takes on three different stories in this anthology film. In episode one, model Meiko is shocked to discover her friend Tsugumi’s new love interest is her own ex-boyfriend Kazuaki. In episode two, married mother Nao is convinced by her lover to seduce a successful university lecturer in order to create a scandal and humiliate the academic. Finally, a third episode imagines an alternate reality where people have stopped using computers and smartphones. Two women bump into each other at a train station, both believing they were classmates many years previously… but they soon start wondering whether they knew each other at all. Wheel of Fortune & Fantasy is one of two recent films from Hamaguchi, alongside the award-winning Drive My Car (screened at JFF 2021). An anthology format proves a perfect fit for his character-focused, methodical form of storytelling. All the stories here feature moments of mysterious revelation, unexpected connection and extraordinary emotional catharsis. It’s another masterpiece from one of world cinema’s most remarkable filmmakers.