Cannes Review: Chie Hayakawa’s Renoir Presents a Slowly Unfolding and Rewarding Coming-of-Age Tale

      Just three years after receiving a special mention from the Camera d’Or jury for Plan 75, Chie Hayakawa returns to Cannes as one of seven filmmakers making their debut in the main competition—an unusual breath of fresh air from a festival that often favors established names. In Plan 75, an incisive piece of speculative fiction, Hayakawa envisioned a near-future Japan addressing its aging population crisis through a voluntary euthanasia program. In her second feature, Renoir, she tackles similar themes, focusing on family, death, and generational tensions, while reflecting on her own past rather than looking to the future.

      With its everyday details (captured in beautiful, muted tones by DP Hideho Urata), the presence of veteran actor Lily Franky, and a leisurely pace, Renoir tells a coming-of-age story that fans of Hirokazu Kore-eda might find familiar, although it lacks his characteristic sentimentality. Hayakawa’s perspective is both consistent and watchful, balancing the joys and challenges of a pivotal summer. The narrative centers on Fuki (Yui Suzuki), an introverted 11-year-old striving to navigate adolescence. Her father (Franky) is bedridden with cancer, while her mother, Utako (Hikari Ishida), is occupied with work. Frequently left to her own devices, Fuki escapes into her imagination and develops an interest in hypnosis, which she tries out on a woman living above her and a new friend from her language school. Set in 1987, during Japan’s economic bubble, the film reflects some of Hayakawa’s own experiences of losing her father at a similar age.

      The outcome is a rich and gradually rewarding bildungsroman—a film that may feel cold to the touch but offers much to contemplate. In a recent interview with Variety, Hayakawa confessed to having written various drafts of the script in her 20s, fearing they might be too dark. This should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism: even in lighter moments, Renoir's atmosphere remains tenuous. The film begins with Fuki envisioning her own murder (a gruesome strangulation in her own bed) and funeral for an essay she is reading to her class, which likely sets the tone for what to expect from the film.

      Fuki isn’t inclined to speak; instead, Hayakawa has her listen to the adults around her, leaving viewers to wonder whose influence she may ultimately absorb. There’s the compassionate teacher who commends her writing while expressing concern over some of its themes (he even brings her mother in for a meeting about an essay titled “I Want to Be an Orphan”). There’s a charming man (Ayumu Nakajima) who dines with her and Utako, the subject of Fuki’s attempted curse. Most troubling is Kaori (Ryota Bando), a groomer she converses with on a phone-in dating line, who persuades her to meet him in a particularly unsettling scene.

      The late-80s backdrop, on the verge of a bubble burst, situates Renoir at a crucial moment in Japanese history; however, Hayakawa’s film delves into internal worlds that can sometimes feel unreachable. While this and a somewhat monotonous tone may distance some viewers, it is fascinating to observe the director gradually unveil these memories.

      Renoir had its premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.