journal features
movie reviews
photo of the day

movie review - Last Mile

international airspace, 2025.07.26

This is a Japanese drama about some employees of a massive online retailer with a militant fulfillment operation that becomes the subject of a bombing campaign. In broad outlines, it shares a lot with Bullet Train Explosion, which we saw in April. Both have a colorful cast of uncertain character and motivation, and both are written with some clever ideas and a no-frills tone that I enjoyed in both cases.

As the story unfolds, we see various parties being killed by the bomber's deliveries, and the stakes nudge higher as we see a single mother struggling with two young girls. Who have ordered something from the retail giant! Dum, dum, dummmmm! Corporate bullshit, Japanese hyper-shame/duty, international relations... this story has it all(ish). Yes, it's broadly familiar. But no, it's not formulaic and it's not over-burdened by its themes.

Recommended.