(l-r) Tom/Komori (Koji Yakusho), John (Josh Harnett), and Lucy/Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima), in director Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy. Photo courtesy of Film Movement ©

Director Atsuko Hirayanagi makes a strong feature film debut with Oh Lucy, a Japanese comedy/drama with a darker, absurdist undercurrent. Hirayanagi’s film mixes absurd comedy with a very dark undercurrent, in this strange tale of a lonely middle-aged single Japanese women gaining a new view of life after signing up for a course to learn English that requires her to don a curly blonde wig and adopt a new identity as “Lucy.” Hirayanagi focuses on a type of character often overlooked and offers that character an unexpected second chance at life. The director also peppers her film with little comic absurdities, alternating with some moments of bracing darkness.

Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima) is a lonely, never-married middle-aged Japanese woman living a rather stilled life in Tokyo.