Sakura Ando
Neri Hashioka
Overview
A grifter and her loose-cannon brother get their hands on a massive amount of money, but their ill-gotten gains puts a huge target on their back.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe Grift and the Grind
I’ve seen this trick before—the camera lingers on a stack of cash, the kind of money that doesn’t just change lives but warps them. The bills are crisp, untouched, almost sacred. Then the shot cuts to the face of someone who’s never held that kind of power before, and you can see the calculation flicker behind their eyes. Bad Lands, Masato Harada’s 2023 crime thriller, opens with that exact moment, and for a while, it feels like it might be about what happens next.
But the film is less interested in the money than in the people who chase it, and the way that chase hollows them out long before the bullets start flying.
Harada has never been a director who shies away from the messy, unglamorous side of crime. His previous work, like Hell Dogs and Sekigahara, often fixates on the mechanics of power—the way it corrupts, the way it isolates, the way it turns even the most loyal relationships into transactions. Bad Lands is no different, though it swaps the samurai swords and wartime intrigue for the neon-lit underbelly of Osaka’s phone scamming industry.
The film follows Neri (Sakura Ando), a grifter with a razor-sharp mind and a past that won’t stay buried, and her volatile brother Jo (Ryosuke Yamada), whose temper is as much a liability as it is a weapon. When they stumble into a score that could set them up for life, the film becomes a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, with Neri and Jo caught between a ruthless crime syndicate, a billionaire with a grudge, and their own fractured family dynamics.
But here’s the thing: Bad Lands isn’t really about the plot. Or at least, it shouldn’t be. The story is a labyrinth of double-crosses, shifting alliances, and half-explained motivations, and while that might sound thrilling on paper, the execution often feels like a series of abrupt edits strung together with little regard for rhythm or coherence.
Harada’s direction is kinetic, almost ferocious in its pacing, but the film’s 143-minute runtime is a slog not because it’s slow, but because it’s exhausting. There’s no room to breathe, no moment to sit with the weight of what’s happening. The editing is crisp to the point of being clinical, and while that might work for a lean, 90-minute thriller, here it just leaves you feeling like you’ve been run over by a truck—repeatedly.
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsMasato Harada’s Bad Lands (2023): A Gritty Japanese Crime Thriller with Star Power
Masato Harada’s Bad Lands (2023) is making waves as a dark, sprawling crime epic from Japan, blending a star-studded cast with the director’s signature hard-boiled style. Clocking in at a hefty 143 minutes, the film dives into the underbelly of organized crime, corruption, and moral ambiguity—hallmarks of Harada’s filmography. But with a runtime that demands patience and a premise that risks overindulgence, early reactions suggest Bad Lands is a mixed bag: ambitious, but not without flaws.
A Cast of Heavy Hitters
Leading the ensemble is Sakura Ando (Shoplifters, Drive My Car), whose presence alone elevates the film’s prestige. She’s joined by Ryosuke Yamada (The 8-Year Engagement), a rising star with matinee-idol charisma, and veteran actor Katsuhisa Namase (The Eel), who brings gravitas to the proceedings. The supporting cast—including Mitsuo Yoshihara, Yasumasa Oba, and Yasushi Fuchikami—rounds out a roster of seasoned performers, suggesting Bad Lands is as much about character depth as it is about crime-fueled spectacle.
Harada, known for films like Kamikaze Taxi (1995) and The Emperor in August (2015), has a knack for balancing gritty realism with operatic drama. If Bad Lands follows suit, expect a story where loyalty, betrayal, and violence collide in unexpected ways. The film’s original title, Baddo ranzu (a play on "bad lands"), hints at a morally desolate landscape where no one emerges unscathed.
Early Reactions: Promise and Pacing Problems
So far, critical reception is lukewarm. On French review aggregator SensCritique, Bad Lands holds a 6/10 rating based on 37 votes 
. While the snippet doesn’t break down specific critiques, a middling score for a crime epic of this scale suggests the film may struggle with pacing or narrative cohesion. A 143-minute runtime is no small commitment, and if the story doesn’t justify its length, even the most compelling performances might not save it.
Rotten Tomatoes, meanwhile, has yet to publish a critical consensus or audience score for the film . The lack of early buzz could mean Bad Lands is flying under the radar outside Japan, or it might signal a slow rollout for international distribution. Either way, the absence of reviews makes it hard to gauge whether Harada’s latest is a return to form or a misfire.
What We Don’t Know (Yet)
With limited evidence, key details remain unclear:
- Plot specifics: The snippets don’t reveal the film’s central conflict, antagonists, or how the ensemble cast’s storylines intersect. Is it a sprawling crime saga like The Yakuza or a tighter, character-driven thriller?
- International release: Will Bad Lands get a theatrical or streaming debut outside Japan? The lack of English-language reviews suggests it’s still in early distribution phases.
- Harada’s vision: The director’s past work often explores Japan’s social and political undercurrents. Does Bad Lands tackle contemporary issues, or is it a period piece?
The Bottom Line
Bad Lands (2023) has the ingredients for a gripping crime drama: a powerhouse cast, a director with a strong genre pedigree, and a premise ripe for tension. But with a runtime that tests patience and early reviews that hint at uneven execution, it’s a film that could either dazzle or disappoint. For now, fans of Japanese crime cinema will have to wait for more concrete reactions—or a wider release—to see if Harada’s latest lands as a triumph or a slog.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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