Following her acclaimed short Ginger Boy, director Tanaka Miki returns with silver express, a quiet and deeply empathetic exploration of modern intimacy. The story follows Chieri (Okamoto Yui), a young woman who has never experienced romantic or sexual attraction. Feeling perpetually out of place in a world obsessed with romance, her isolation finally lifts when she meets Shoya (Kurihara Hayato). Also lacking romantic feelings, Shoya offers Chieri a rare sense of understanding. However, their sanctuary begins to unravel over a fundamental difference: while Chieri is asexual, Shoya is aromantic and experiences physical longing that Chieri cannot reciprocate. Tanaka shines behind the camera, cementing her reputation as a director with a rare visual sincerity. Elevating her strong cast, she captures Chieri’s internal landscape with remarkable delicacy, translating complex emotional states—isolation, relief, and quiet friction—into atmospheric visual poetry. What lingers most is Tanaka’s distinctive directorial ‘touch’—a subtle, sensitive approach to filmmaking that prioritizes mood, character texture, and raw emotional resonance. Driven by Okamoto’s compelling debut and Kurihara’s grounded charisma, silver express is a contemplative character study that offers a uniquely nuanced lens into asexual and aromantic experiences, marking another stylish showcase of Tanaka’s undeniable artistic vision.
Born in Tokyo in 1993, Tanaka studied literature at Chuo University and began writing fiction. She studied screenwriting at Scenario Center and filmmaking at NCW. In 2025, her directorial debut Ginger Boy won the Third Prize in the La Cinef at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.
From Tokyo International Film Festival 2026, No. 39
