One Second Ahead, One Second Behind

Official Selection, 2023 Busan International Film Festival

Hajime has always been one second faster than everyone else. His eyes are never open in any of his school portraits, and he wakes up before his alarm goes off. A self-described loser, Hajime (Masaki Okada) is super awkward when it comes to interacting with women he finds attractive. As he confesses to a radio show host, the women he likes make the first move but they also dump him just as quickly. Could making a first move with busker Sakurako (Rion Fukumuro) give him a chance at lasting romance?

“Plain-looking” and lonely Reika (Kaya Kiyohara), on the other hand, has always been one second behind everyone else. When Reika comes into Hajime’s post office branch every day to buy a single stamp, Hajime hardly notices her, let alone remembers her from their past.

A remake of the Taiwanese hit My Missing Valentine (2021 SDAFF Spring Showcase), ONE SECOND AHEAD, ONE SECOND BEHIND is the latest comedy from award-winning director Nobuhiro Yamashita (Linda Linda Linda, SDAFF ’15; Over the Fence, SDAFF ’16). Staying largely faithful to Chen Yu-hsun’s script while flipping the genders of the characters, Yamashita’s winning remake is a love letter to Kyoto and all of the lost people whom the universe will bring together in just the nick of time.

– Wilda Wong