Air Doll (Japan, 2009)

Middle-aged Hideo lives alone with an inflatable doll he calls Nozomi. The doll is his closest companion. He dresses it up, talks to it over dinner, takes it out for walks in the community (with the doll in a wheel chair) and has sexual intercourse with it. However, unbeknown to Hideo, Nozomi finds a heart. After Hideo leaves for work each day, Nozomi dresses in her maid's outfit and explores the world outside their apartment with a sense of child-like wonder.

Air Doll portrays the loneliness of modern urban life, and the difficulty of friendships. A pretty and odd little movie with many scenes that are just as beautiful as its instrumental and minimalistic soundtrack. Directed by one of my favorite contemporary Japanese film makers, Hirokazu Koreeda (Still Walking, Nobody Knows). Its starts off as a quirky coming-of-age story, but gets more and more complex and takes some unpredictable and very dark turns along the way. 

Genre: Drama/Fantasy