Concrete 2004

Tatsuo Oosugi, Sousuke Takaoka, is a troubled working-class teenager who bears the sting of his parents’ divorce and his mother’s neglect, and he slides from burnout through a string of low-paying jobs into a life of violence. He resolves to join the yakuza to raise money for a future marriage to Kayoko Matsuyama, hoping the move will change his downward spiral. Although he initially longs to quit, he is drawn into power and purpose when he’s offered the chance to lead a small gang, the Ryujin gang. From there, he recruits a circle of friends to pull off robberies and increasingly brutal crimes, eventually involving rape to appease his seniors.

One night, a high school student named Misaki, Miki Komori, is seen cycling home and is knocked down by one of the boys. Tatsuo pretends to escort her, but once Misaki tries to go home on her own, he reveals his true nature and menaces her with violence, even threatening to burn her house down if she speaks out. Misaki is subjected to rape in a hotel and then brought to the home of Takao Matsuyama, Kayoko’s brother, where the assault escalates. There, the boys inflict horrific abuses, including forcing her to lie to her parents about staying at a friend’s house, and they brutalize her with various acts.

Despite Misaki’s repeated attempts to escape—twice, including help from Takao’s mother—the group captures her again, injuring her with punishments that leave her leg burned with lighter fluid. Tatsuo even violently assaults Takao’s mother, and he lashes out at the others, warning them that sympathy for Misaki will be punished. As the abuse continues, Misaki’s body grows weak, incontinent and dehydrated, and she pleads for water. Tatsuo taunts her and delivers a fatal blow, then a barbell is dropped on her stomach. The gang pauses to relax at a sauna, during which Misaki’s last wish resonates: > stay strong.

Back at the house, they discover Misaki has died from her injuries after an unresponsive moment when a cigarette is held near her nose. To cover up the murder, Tatsuo arranges to burial by loading her body into a concrete drum from his old job and burying it in an open field. The drum becomes the site of a grim secret, later discovered by authorities.

As the investigation unfolds, the arrest of the boys follows, and a detective who knew Tatsuo before explodes with anger, calling him a “demon seed” for trying to minimize his role in Misaki’s murder, insisting he did more than claim. The location where Misaki’s body lies is transformed into a gravesite, and through a voiceover, Misaki asks listeners to consider the value of life: > how precious life is.

The film closes with a haunting image: a crying Tatsuo in a dark room, an illusion that lingers as he fails to coax a mangled bird to fly from his hand.