Noise

The small community of the island Shishikari has a failing economy and an aging population. When the star of the island, the young farmer Izumi Keita (Fujiwara Tatsuya) gains national attention for his exceptional black figs, potentially bringing state funding to the island, the future all of a sudden looks a lot brighter.

Then tragedy strikes. When Keita and his two childhood friends accidentally kill a stranger that just arrived on the island, they decide to hide the murder, for the good of the community. When it turns out the dead guy is a wanted serial killer, the game is afoot between the three friends and the newly arrived police force, who are determined to find and arrest the killer. 

Noise is a bleak, intelligent and satirical crime drama, with a sizable portion of black humor, where the long takes of idyllic island scenes make a great contrast to the escalating violent actions. How far would you go to protect your community?

This film was chosen by film critic Ingrid Rommetveit, editor-in-chief for Z Film Quarterly.