One Second Ahead, One Second Behind is a Japanese remake of the successful Taiwanese film My Missing Valentine (2020). Under the direction of Yamashita Nobuhiro, best known for A Gentle Breeze in the Village (2007) and Linda Linda Linda (2005), actor Okada Masaki, of Drive My Car (2021) fame, plays Hajime, a young man who works at a post office in Kyoto. He meets Sakurako, a street singer, and they grow close. One morning, however, he wakes up to find that a day has passed without him remembering it. What happened yesterday and what is that he doesn’t remember? Why is his body sunburned? One Second Ahead, One Second Behind is a movie that puts together the front and back side of a story like a puzzle. The day Hajime lost is not just a day. It’s the past he can’t remember and a feeling he’s forgotten. In addition to the cinematic fun of piecing together the story, Yamashita Nobuhiro plays to his strengths in the contrasting personalities of his male and female characters. (NAM Dong-chul)