{{Infobox film | name = Dear Stranger | image = Dear Stranger film poster.jpg | director = Tetsuya Mariko | producer = Eisei Shu, Ying Liang, Julia Xu, Naoya Takahashi | writer = Tetsuya Mariko | starring = Hidetoshi Nishijima<br/>Gwei Lun-mei | cinematography = Yasuyuki Sasaki, Rikuo Ueno | editing = Matthieu Laclau | music = Jim O'Rourke | studio = Toei Company LTD. | distributor = EST N8 | released = {{Film date|2025|09|12}} | country = {{Plainlist| * Japan * Taiwan * United States }} | language = English, Chinese }}
'''''Dear Stranger''''' is a 2025 film directed by Tetsuya Mariko starring Hidetoshi Nishijima and Gwei Lun-mei.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-17 |title=Busan 2025 Review: In DEAR STRANGER, a Kidnapping Cracks Open a Troubled Marriage |url=https://screenanarchy.com/2025/09/busan-2025-review-in-dear-stranger-a-kidnapping-cracks-open-a-troubled-marriage.html |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=ScreenAnarchy}}</ref> It explores themes of trust and grief in the American immigrant experience and multi-cultural marriage between a Japanese man and his Taiwanese-American wife.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Toei Company readies first English-language live-action feature 'Dear Stranger' |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/toei-company-readies-first-english-language-live-action-feature-dear-stranger/5204134.article |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=Screen Daily |language=en |archive-date=2025-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250903133912/https://www.screendaily.com/news/toei-company-readies-first-english-language-live-action-feature-dear-stranger/5204134.article |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Deshpande |first=Akash |date=2025-09-18 |title=Dear Stranger (2025) 'BIFF' Movie Review: A Layered Portrait of Marital Discontent, Fragile Masculinity, and Bourgeois Anxieties |url=https://www.highonfilms.com/dear-stranger-2025-biff-movie-review/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=High On Films |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Plot == Kenji, a Japanese professor studying ruins and seeking tenure, and his wife Jane, a Taiwanese-American puppeteer, have a happy life in New York City with their son, Kai. However, as Jane becomes more absorbed in her life as a mother, she begins to lose a hold on her artistic dreams and identity. Their lives are thrown out of spin when Kai goes missing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Busan International Film Festival |url=https://www.biff.kr/ |access-date=2025-10-04 |website=Busan International Film Festival}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Ramachandran |first=Naman |date=2025-09-22 |title=Nishijima Hidetoshi, Gwei Lun-Mei and Mariko Tetsuya on Busan Title ‘Dear Stranger’ |url=https://variety.com/2025/film/festivals/nishijima-hidetoshi-gwei-lun-mei-mariko-tetsuya-dear-stranger-busan-1236525855/ |access-date=2025-10-04 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=2025-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250925105310/https://variety.com/2025/film/festivals/nishijima-hidetoshi-gwei-lun-mei-mariko-tetsuya-dear-stranger-busan-1236525855/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Production == The film is the first English production from Japan's Toei Company.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schilling |first=Mark |date=2025-09-18 |title='Dear Stranger' confronts marriage in turmoil, but lacks subtlety |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/09/18/film/dear-stranger/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=The Japan Times |language=en |archive-date=2025-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250918012147/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/09/18/film/dear-stranger/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was shot entirely on location in New York City and edited in Taiwan.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
Aside from Toei, the film is backed by Roji Inc. and has support from JLOX+ and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA).
Mariko was inspired to make the film upon his return to Japan from the U.S. after the COVID pandemic, pivoting from his previous focus on "absurd violence" towards an emotional drifting apart.<ref name=":1" />
For Jane's puppeteer work, Mariko collaborated with Blair Thomas to choreograph puppetry that would express Jane's passion for the art form and her struggle balancing it with her family life.<ref name=":1" />
== Cast == * Hidetoshi Nishijima as Kenji * Gwei Lun-Mei as Jane *Fiona Fu as Shu-An Yao * Julian Wang as Donny
== Release == The film premiered on September 12, 2025 in Japan and screened at the 30th Busan International Film Festival on September 18.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramachandran |first=Naman |date=2025-09-08 |title='Drive My Car' Star Nishijima Hidetoshi's Busan-Bound Drama 'Dear Stranger' Boarded by EST N8 for International Sales (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2025/film/news/nishijima-hidetoshi-dear-stranger-est-n8-sales-1236511557/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>
The film was screened as a special screening film in the Nippon Cinema Now Section of the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival on November 4, 2025.<ref name="ds:tiff">{{Cite web |url=https://2025.tiff-jp.net/en/lineup/film/38006NCN09 |title=Dear Stranger |website=Tokyo International Film Festival |date=October 10, 2025 |access-date=October 10, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> It will be presented in 'Country Focus: Japan - 2025' section of the 56th International Film Festival of India in November 2025.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iffigoa.org/international-cinema/2025/country-focus-japan|title=Country Focus: Japan - 2025|date=7 November 2025|access-date=8 November 2025|website=International Film Festival of India|language=en|archive-date=14 November 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251114111556/https://iffigoa.org/international-cinema/2025/country-focus-japan|url-status=live}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb title}}
Category:2025 films Category:2025 Japanese films Category:2025 Taiwanese films Category:Films about missing people