Riko’s brother is dead. A good-for-nothing who never got a proper job, constantly pestered his younger sister for money, and didn′t even attend their mother′s deathbed. Just when it seemed he was living well after getting married and having a child, he quickly got divorced. He was selfish and a burden all his life, and suddenly died. Is four days enough to wrap up a person′s life? Riko leaves home to see off the brother she used to hate, on his final journey. With Bring Him Down to a Portable Size, director Nakano Ryota—who is talented for unfolding family stories with warmth and humor in films like Her Love Boils Bathwater (2016), A Long Goodbye (2019), and The Asadas (2020)—questions the things that need to be said because you are a family, yet are often left unsaid for that very reason. Shibasaki Ko and Odagiri Joe handle the potentially heavy and uncomfortable subject matter with light, relaxed performances, offering a hopeful ending note. (Karen PARK)