Burn (2026)

Jurie grows up with her younger sister in a household dominated by her parents’ religion and her father’s violence. When the beatings become unbearable, she leaves her sister behind and runs away. A social media account called KAMI, which promises round-the-clock help to lonely kids, lures her to Toyoko Plaza in Kabukicho, a stretch of pavement in Shinjuku next to the Toho building where homeless teenagers gather behind blue plastic barriers. The teenagers there take Jurie in and give her the nickname Ju-Ju because of her stutter. KAMI, wearing a baseball cap and a warm smile, provides her with food, a phone, and a room. Ju-Ju quickly becomes part of this colourful makeshift family, but the sense of security is deceptive: abuse finds its way back into her life in other forms, and every act of kindness in this neighbourhood comes at a price. The group’s warmth is inseparable from drugs, debt, and the harsh laws of nightlife. Before long, the safe space they thought they had created begins to collapse.