Giri / Haji

Set between Tokyo and London, 'Giri / Haji' (Duty / Shame) is a bilingual crime thriller that follows Kenzo Mori, a middle-aged detective from Tokyo tasked with an undercover mission of paramount delicacy. After the nephew of a powerful Yakuza boss is murdered in London using a ceremonial sword, Kenzo is secretly sent to England to find the killer, who is suspected to be his own estranged younger brother, Yuto. Believed to have died under mysterious circumstances a year earlier, Yuto's sudden reappearance in the British criminal underworld threatens to spark an all-out Yakuza turf war across Tokyo. Upon arriving in London, Kenzo is a fish out of water navigating a labyrinthine criminal ecosystem far removed from home. Along the way, he crosses paths with Rodney Yamaguchi, a charismatic half-Japanese rent boy battling substance abuse, and DC Sarah Weitzmann, an isolated British detective investigating a separate gang-related homicide. As the unlikely trio uncovers a web of corruption linking London mobsters to Tokyo syndicates, Kenzo's professional duty clashes sharply with familial devotion and moral ambiguity. The narrative intricately weaves themes of loyalty, cultural alienation, grief, and redemption through dynamic storytelling that incorporates film noir techniques, dark humor, and evocative artistic interludes. As Kenzo closes in on Yuto, both brothers are forced to confront the violent consequences of their shared past and the irreconcilable divide between what honor demands and personal morality permits.