I Alone

A common horoscope brings a timid middle-aged salaryman and high school delinquent to the center of a political scandal, in which a corrupt incumbent mayor seeks to crush the candidacy of his reformer opponent. This anti-establishment tale blends a punk ethos with absurdist comedy as the unlikely pair finds their existence given new meaning when they work to return a kidnapped baby. Along the way they must fight not only the assault of the mayor’s neoliberal redevelopment of the town, but his bribed police force and yakuza. Under director Sho Tsukikawa’s taut direction, "I Alone"’s mad roller coaster ride plot and outraged self-determination all ring emotionally true, making this one of the year’s biggest discoveries.

• kidnapping