Some moments in life are decided in a flash. Life and death can be separated by a few seconds, and a stranger’s actions can change the present of another’s life. Aimitagai focuses on such chain reactions of fate. Azusa and Kanami have been best friends since high school. After Kanami dies in an unexpected accident, Azusa despairs yet finds comfort in sending text messages to Kanami’s cellphone. Kanami’s parents wonder about Azusa’s identity, and upon visiting the orphanage that their dead daughter cared about, are moved by her good deeds. The dead do not come back to life, but their traces shake people’s hearts in various ways, and small, good deeds come together to make the world a place worth living. Kuroki Haru, who appeared in Sleepeeer Hit! (2016) and Okiku and the World (2023), expresses the delicate emotions of the protagonist Azusa. The film is charming with the elaborate rhetoric of Kusano Shogo, who directed What She Likes... (2021). (NAM Dong-chul)