Dear Stranger

Source: Toei

‘Dear Stranger’ stars Gwei Lun-Mei and Hidetoshi Nishijima

EXCLUSIVE: Japan’s Toei Company has set family suspense drama Dear Stranger as its first English-language live-action feature and first international collaboration in decades.

Directed by Japan’s Tetsuya Mariko, the project is part of Toei’s global expansion growth as set out in its Toei New Wave plan in 2023. Executive produced by Nakajima Yasuhiko and Shozo Ichiyama, the film will open in Japan this autumn by Toei Company. The Jokers Films is on board as French distributor.

Shot entirely on location in New York City, the film stars Hidetoshi Nishijima from Oscar-winning Drive My Car and Apple TV+ series Sunny, produced by A24, and Gwei Lun-Mei from Berlinale Golden Bear winner Black Coal, Thin Ice.

They play a Japanese man and his Taiwanese-American wife whose peaceful immigrant life is shattered when their young son goes missing. The kidnapping case quickly spirals into something more complex, as long-buried secrets resurface, pushing the couple toward emotional and moral collapse.

It was written by director Mariko to explore trust and grief through the immigrant experience and multi-cultural marriage.

Mariko’s second feature, Destruction Babies, won best emerging director at Locarno in 2016 and multiple awards in Japan. His 2019 feature Miyamoto received the Asia Film Critics Association Netpac Award for best screenplay.

Dear Stranger is produced by Eisei Shu of Tokyo-based Roji Films, Naoya Takahashi on behalf of Toei, and both China-based Liang Ying and Julia Xu, with The Jokers Films’ Manuel Chiche as co-producer.

Among the backers are Roji Inc and Toei Company with the support of JLOX+ and Taiwan’s International Co-funding Program 2.0 from Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA).

Topics