Straddling two time periods and several very different women, Kei Ishikawa’s A Pale View of Hills gives viewers a lot to chew on. It aims to be both a snapshot at a very specific moment in history and an exploration of motherhood, the impact of war, and grief. When I caught it at the Toronto International Film Festival , I very much wanted to enjoy it, but something held me back from connecting completely .

The dual timeline begins in 1952 Nagasaki, Japan, seven years after the atomic bomb. Housewife Etsuko (Suzu Hirose) is building a home with her husband Jiro (Kôhei Matsushita) in a city gradually putting itself back together following the war. With Jiro often working, Etsuko finds herself drawn toward Sachiko ( Shogun 's Fumi Nikaidō ), a mysterious woman who sparks intri

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