Qualia

A farming family struggles to keep itself together in Ryo Ushimaru’s domestic dramedy.

“Where do males go?”

Yuko (Kokone Sasaki) is the long-suffering wife of Ryosuke (Kenta Kiguchi), who runs a family-owned chicken farm. He lives at the farm with Yuko and his sister Satomi (Maya Kudamastsu), who bullies Yuko relentlessly with endless requests and insults. One day, a young woman named Saki (Ruka Ishikawa) shows up, applying for a live-in employee position, and reveals herself as not only Ryosuke’s mistress, but as being pregnant with his child. She threatens to tell everyone about this, causing a scandal, so the family agrees to let her live with them, even as it threatens to upset the family balance.

Qualia is a term relating to how people see or perceive the world. It’s an interesting choice of title, though it might be referring to the way Yuko sees what should be a huge betrayal, as this woman storms into her life, claiming to pregnant and sleeping in the same house. Yuko is a strange person, who sees the world in very simple, almost insultingly optimistic terms.

She’s an interesting character around which to make a film as she doesn’t have all that much going on, it seems. She’s submissive, and never gets upset at anything, letting herself be bullied, unaware that it’s even happening. It sometimes comes across as insulting,

Yet she’s perfectly happy with Saki being in the house. Similarly, Saki is happy to help out and the two get along. It bothers the others more, especially Satomi, and things do get complicated when Saki, not actually pregnant, sleeps with farmhand (and potential member of the Tanaka family, it’s never clarified) Taichi (Chikara To) as Ryosuke is unable to have children.

The film’s ideas are centred on the idea of the roles gender plays in the world – for both humans and chickens – as well as the theme of pregnancy and fertilisation. It’s no accident that the film’s setting is in a place where unfertilised eggs reign and male chickens are disposed of, and all of this helps tie the story together. It’s a good thing too because it can otherwise be a bit disjointed in places.

The characters sometimes feel a little surreal or heightened in a way that doesn’t feel intentional. Yuko especially can come across as deeply deranged in scenes, with the IQ of a horse and her shocking inability to think for herself seeming less like the result of trauma or something else and more like the creative never received Robert Downey Jr’s memo on not making another Simple Jack. Satomi’s treatment of her is also a bit much and really puts a sour taste in some scenes. She’s supposed to be this way because of her leg, but she still comes across as extremely unpleasant, and in a film where no one is hugely likeable, this is a bit of an issue.

At least the film isn’t too harsh or anything. It’s not the wacky domestic comedy-drama that it sells itself as, but there’s a quiet charm to it that makes one think of working on a farm: it’s sometimes a slog, and the people can get on your nerves, but at the end of the day you’re satisfied, if a bit exhausted.

Verdict: A quirky, if often downbeat, drama, Qualia would be a touch more investing if its characters weren’t all charisma vacuums.

Overall entertainment: 6.5/10
Violence: Right at the end, a sneaky 4/10
Sex: Purely for reproduction issues. Never for hens.
Engagements: By the henhouses, why not
Party tricks: Those people need to find a better, less gross friend

Qualia (2023)
Also known as: クオリア
Japanese

Director: Ushimaru Ryo
Writer: Ushimaru Ryo

CAST

Sasaki Kokone – Tanaka Yuko
Ishikawa Ruka – Saki
Kiguchi Kenta – Ryosuke
Kudamatsu Maya – Satomi
To Chikara – Taichi