Time: 123 Minutes
Cast:
Masaki Suda as Ryosuke Yoshi
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

I was very interested in watching Cloud, because it’s the latest movie from Kiyoshi Kurosawa. I had previously watched Cure and Pulse from him, and both were some truly excellent horror movies. Cloud had been getting some limited releases in some places, but I was still waiting to be able to actually watch it. As it happens, I was able to watch it while on a flight, and it definitely delivered for me.

One of the things I will say is that Cloud is worth going into blind. I basically knew nothing before watching it, and it took some twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting at all. What I can say is that this at least begins as a slow burn character study, focussing on an online reseller and his downward spiral. The first half is relatively straightforward and starts as a suspense driven paranoia thriller. It takes its time settling into and establishing the world, introducing side characters, plot threads and moments which would have payoffs in the second half. I won’t get into the second half too much but it definitely takes a turn for the unexpected. Kurosawa handles the tone very well. It is filled with dread from the start and the tension building is unsettling, but it also has moments of surprising dark comedy which work really well. There’s also some commentary to be seen here, mainly with the digital disconnection seen through its protagonist (thematically not too dissimilar from Pulse actually).

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s direction is really great. It is beautifully shot, and does incredibly well at building up the tense atmosphere, especially in the first half. It’s not a horror movie, but makes effective use of the camerawork, sound and editing to make it feel unsettling. At the same time, he also delivers on the big swings in the second half.

Cloud is an excellent, entertaining, tense, unpredictable and darkly comic thriller. It’s one of my favourite films of 2025 so far, and again I highly recommend going into it blind.