SPECIAL GUEST: Intro and Q&A with director Yukihiro Morigaki
The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat
(架空の犬と嘘をつく猫)
U.S. PREMIERE
A young boy finds an odd way to cope with family turmoil in this stirring domestic drama
Date: Saturday, March 21
Time: 3:00 PM (Doors open at 2:30 PM)
Location: AMC NEWCITY 14
Japan | Drama | 2025 | 125 minutes
In Japanese w/ English Subtitles
Director: Yukihiro Morigaki
Screenwriter: Tomoe Kanno
Starring: Mahiro Takasugi, Marika Ito, Mai Fukagawa, Yuko Ando
Film Source: Pony Canyon
Eight-year-old Yamabuki is caught between members of his dysfunctional family. To cope with their antics, he starts petting an imaginary dog. Twenty-five years later, when Yamabuki’s grandmother, who had been holding the family together over the years, dies, the family reunites once again. Will their differences finally be resolved, or will old wounds be laid bare again?
Director Yukihiro Morigaki takes a restrained approach to a chaotic dysfunctional family with his adaptation of Haruna Terachi’s novel. Showing that the destructive power of grief can consume people like a black hole, the film asks a compelling question: Is it acceptable to feed each other with lies if they can keep a family together?
Yukihiro Morigaki, Director