Following Japanese journalist Shiori Itô’s pursuit of justice for an alleged rape several years prior makes for a frequently disturbing experience. To be upfront, it's clear that this isn't intended as a neutral examination; instead, it functions as a powerful video diary created by the woman herself. Her purpose is to document her own fight and highlight how antiquated the legal procedures were in a country where, in many respects, women are still regarded as property. The person accused is visible throughout, although he doesn’t speak directly or through his representatives; from that point on, the narrative centers around her efforts to confront him with her claims. The film primarily showcases the brave actions of one woman striving for justice. It's necessary to expose and change the laws that hinder her, ensuring they don’t appear to shield powerful individuals from serious offenses. Furthermore, it effectively demonstrates how challenging it can be—particularly when adhering to the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”—to properly define crimes involving intimate acts so that they are handled objectively. This is especially true given the frequent absence of witnesses and the considerable time that often passes between an incident and any attempt at resolution. It also sheds light on what I perceive as the frequently illogical distinctions in the evidence needed for criminal versus civil cases. Civil cases always strike me as prioritizing a balance of probabilities, sometimes even financial considerations, over upholding the rule of law fairly and impartially. The film doesn't offer solutions to these complicated problems; I believe there aren’t easy answers—but it remains shocking that anyone has to endure such an emotional ordeal just to have their day in court, and something like that should rightly provoke public outrage.

Source on TMDB