Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2011

Nowhere is Japan’s divide between honne (real value) and tatemae (face value) more distinct than works of fiction concerning sex, and particularly extra-marital affairs. While it’s an open secret that the country is rife with such activities, when it comes to entertainment the tales are usually as didactic as an American of the Republican persuasion. Yoake no Machi de is no exception. But having said that the flick—based on a bestselling novel of the same name by Keigo Higashino—is pretty good.

Watanabe (Goro Kishitani), the married boss in a mid-sized firm, strikes up a friendship with the much-younger subordinate Nakanishi (Kyoko Fukuda) that leads to an ongoing steamy tryst. He soon learns she is suspected of the murder of her father’s lover in a 15 year-old case. Though not immune from the melodrama that infects so many Japanese films, the pic neatly balances the passionate of the (pointedly illegitimate) liaison and the deepening mystery of unsolved crime. Engrossing even if we can figure out a happy ending is not in the cards.

(English title: In the City of Dawn; 129 min)