Sure you can pick up the most pity-inducing real story you can find in the newspapers, but you still gotta make a movie out of it. "Sunk Into The Womb" is an impersonal reconstruction of the facts with little input from the director.

The budget limits and generally poor acting of the grownups partly sabotaged this approach from succeeding, but I appreciated the spartan, realistic tone that clearly goes against the over-the-top melodramatic trends of Japanese entertainment.

There are lots of voyeuristic angles for no particular reason, but also some interesting shots that communicate little details in the family's condition effectively. For example, while the mother and children are having dinner we are shown a long close-up of the father's plate covered in plastic wrap and, as the family's situation gets worse and worse, you can really notice how the apartment is starting to fall apart.

It's really heartbreaking to think that something like this might be happening in my same apartment block, but 30 minutes were enough to get the message.