Someone's Gaze

Someone's Gaze is a short film by Makoto Shinkai, director of 5 Centimeters per Second and The Garden of Words, set in near-future Japan and told as a quiet, intimate family drama.

Aya Okamura has grown up and now lives alone in an apartment away from her parents, busy with her job and her own adult life. Her mother has worked overseas ever since Aya was a child, so the only ones left in the family home are her aging father, Kouji, and their old cat, Mii-san, who has been part of the family since Aya was little. After a tiring day, Aya turns down her father's invitation to dinner by telling him a small lie, saying that she is still at work.

Yet that very night she receives another phone call bringing sudden news that may draw this separated family closer together again. In just a few minutes, the film uses Shinkai's signature detailed backgrounds and soft light to reflect on growing up, the distance that forms between parents and children, and the quiet gazes of those who watch over us.