River's Edge (2018) Review: A Dark Coming-of-Age Story Exposes the Hidden Struggles of Teenagers

 

River's Edge (Original title: Ribâzu ejji) | 2018 | 1h 58m
Genre: Coming-of-Age/Teen Drama/Crime/Drama
Country: Japan
Director: Isao Yukisada
Writers: Kyôko Okazaki, Misaki Setoyama
Cast: Fumi Nikaidô, Ryô Yoshizawa, Aoi Morikawa
IMDb: 6.2
My Rating: 9/10

The emptiness each character carries brings Haruna and Yamada closer, but it also pulls them into a complicated secret and emotional connection.

 

Warning:

Contains scenes of violence, sex, nudity, strong language, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and LGBT themes.

What if the teenage years we often remember as beautiful are actually much darker for some people?

That is what came to my mind while watching River's Edge (2018). This is not the kind of teenage story that focuses on romance, friendship, or the beauty of growing up. Instead, it shows a group of teenagers who are each carrying their own problems, secrets, and emptiness while trying to figure out who they are and where their lives are going.

Haruna Wakugusa (Fumi Nikaido) is a high school student who has difficulty expressing her feelings. She is in a relationship with Kannonzaki (Shuhei Uesugi), a boy who expresses himself through sex and violence, seemingly because of the lack of attention he receives from his family. At the same time, Haruna becomes close to Ichiro Yamada (Ryo Yoshizawa), who is bullied by Kannonzaki.

Kannonzaki becomes jealous of Haruna and Yamada's friendship, which only makes his bullying toward Yamada worse.

Yamada is a loner who does not have many friends. He hides his sexual orientation and pretends to be in a relationship with Kanna Tajima (Aoi Morikawa), who is actually deeply obsessed with him. The only person who knows who Yamada really likes is Kozue Yoshikawa (Sumire), a younger student and model who suffers from bulimia.

Then Yamada shows Haruna something he calls his “treasure.”

It is a human skull belonging to a decomposing corpse hidden in a field of tall grass near the river.

At first, Haruna is shocked. I can understand her reaction because this is certainly not the kind of “treasure” most people would expect someone to show their friend. But as she learns more about Yamada and Kozue, she begins to understand why the corpse means something to them.

The existence of the body becomes a strange connection between Yamada and Kozue. Both of them have complicated feelings about it, and eventually Haruna also starts seeing it as something important to their lives.

As Haruna becomes closer to Yamada and Kozue, misunderstandings begin to appear. Kanna and Kannonzaki assume that Haruna and Yamada have a romantic relationship. Kanna even begins behaving in increasingly irrational ways.

Meanwhile, Kannonzaki secretly has an affair with Rumi (Shiori Dori), one of Haruna's close friends.

So what will happen to these teenagers, whose lives are already filled with so many complicated emotions?

What I find most interesting about River's Edge is that it refuses to present adolescence as something beautiful simply because it is youth. The film is adapted from Kyoko Okazaki's manga of the same name, originally published in 1993–1994, and the story focuses much more on the darker side of teenage life.

For me, that is what makes it different from many coming-of-age stories.

Teenagers are often portrayed as though their biggest problems are first love, friendship, or school. But adolescence is also a period when people are still trying to understand themselves. They may not know what kind of life they want, what they believe, or where they belong. Some may also carry problems that they do not know how to express.

River's Edge shows that side quite directly.

Almost every character has their own dark side or secret. What I appreciate is that these stories do not completely overlap with one another. Each character has their own spotlight and their own problems, yet everything still comes together into one story.

That structure makes the film interesting to me, although I can also understand why some viewers might find it slow or even boring. The story and narration take their time, and not every scene is designed to provide immediate excitement.

I personally think the slower pace fits the characters because the film is more interested in their emotional condition than in moving quickly from one event to another.

The acting is also quite good. The actors do not feel stiff, and the chemistry between them is built naturally. The cinematography, camera movement, color composition, and music are also handled well.

One thing I especially like is the relationship between the opening and closing scenes. They seem to mirror each other in a way that gives the film a sense of connection from beginning to end.

There is one part of the film that I found confusing, though: the interview scenes.

The characters suddenly appear in an interview-like format, apparently explaining their thoughts and backgrounds. I can understand why the filmmakers may have used this approach—to help the audience understand the characters more deeply. But I found it slightly strange because the film never clearly explains who is conducting the interviews or why they are happening.

Because of that, those scenes feel somewhat disconnected from the rest of the story.

Still, I think the film succeeds in showing a side of teenage life that is often ignored.

What stayed with me is how little involvement adults seem to have in the problems these teenagers are experiencing. The characters are dealing with violence, sexuality, bullying, family problems, identity, and emotional instability, yet there is very little meaningful intervention from adults.

That absence itself feels important.

Sometimes adults assume teenagers will eventually figure things out on their own. But teenagers can also be dealing with problems that are much bigger than their ability to understand or manage them.

That is probably one of the most uncomfortable things about River's Edge for me. The film does not present these characters as simply “good” or “bad” teenagers. It shows them as young people who are trying to survive complicated emotional situations, sometimes making choices that only create more problems.

The scene that stays with me the most is when Yamada decides to show Haruna his “treasure.”

He takes her to the grassy field near the river where he has hidden the decomposing corpse.

What makes the scene memorable to me is the meaning Yamada gives to that skull. For him, the corpse is somehow proof that he is still alive. In a very strange and disturbing way, looking at death helps him recognize his own existence.

I find that idea very sad.

Yamada seems to have experienced so much emptiness that something as disturbing as a corpse becomes meaningful to him. The thing that should represent death becomes a reminder of life.

For me, this scene captures much of what the film is trying to show about these teenagers. They are not simply looking for happiness. Some of them are looking for anything that can make them feel something, anything that can convince them that they are still connected to the world.

The dialogue, “It’s serve you right,” is simple, but within the story, it carries the bitterness that exists between some of the characters.

What I take from River's Edge is that adolescence can be much more complicated than what we see from the outside. A teenager may laugh with friends, go to school, date someone, or appear completely normal while carrying problems that nobody knows about.

And sometimes the people around them may not notice until something has already gone too far.

That is why I think the film is more than simply a dark teenage drama. It also made me think about how easily we assume that young people are fine simply because they do not openly say otherwise.

Maybe that is something worth remembering not only for parents or teachers, but for all of us. We cannot always see what is happening inside another person simply by looking at how they behave on the surface.

Overall, I think River's Edge (2018) is a strong coming-of-age drama that presents a much darker side of adolescence. The story can feel slow, the interview scenes are somewhat confusing, and some parts may not be easy to digest. But the film's ability to bring together different characters and their hidden problems makes it memorable.

For me, the most unsettling part is not the violence, the relationships, or even the corpse beside the river.

It is the realization that these teenagers are struggling so much while the adults around them barely seem to notice.

And perhaps that is the question I was left with after the film ended: how many young people around us are carrying problems we never see because we are too quick to assume that they are simply going through a normal phase of growing up?

(Aluna Uwie)

Previously published on Alunauwie.com.

"This article was originally written in Indonesian and has been adapted into English for international readers."