Where to Watch
Checking availability in your country…
Cast
Movie Info & Details
Release Year2025
Runtime2h 11m
LanguageJapanese
CertificationNR
GenresDrama
Votes—
DirectorYoshihiko Matsui
WritersYoshihiko Matsui
TypeFeature Film
Rating0.0 out of 10
Cast9 credited
Also Known AsThere Was Such a Thing Before
About There Was Such a Thing Before
Time stands still in the silent streets of Fukushima. Radioactive residues continue to taint the lives of the citizens with a slow, invisible anxiety, trapping them between past wounds and future uncertainties. As his old home was highly exposed to radiation, leading to his mother’s death, young Akira grows up aimless and uprooted. In his search for his lost father, he is assisted by Yuji, the owner of a down-at-heels surfboard shop, as well as a concerned classmate, Shinichi, who becomes increasingly entangled in Akira’s story.
Directed by Yoshihiko Matsui, There Was Such a Thing Before leans on a strong ensemble — Oshirō Maeda, Airu Kubozuka, Arata Iura — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2025.
Read More on the Blog
You Might Also Like
More like There Was Such a Thing Before, picked from what people are watching
6.5Fukushima 50
2020 6.5
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Fukushima 50
2020
6.7Barefoot Gen 2
1986 6.7
Three years after the Hiroshima bombing, a teenager helps a group of orphans to survive and find their new life.
Barefoot Gen 2
1986
6.2House of Bamboo
1955 6.2
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.
House of Bamboo
1955
6.2Hereafter
2010 6.2
Three people — a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy — are touched by death in different ways.
Hereafter
2010
7.6Black Rain
1989 7.6
Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.
Black Rain
1989
6.1The Land of Hope
2012 6.1
An old couple, their only son, the son's wife, a young man and his lover live peacefully in a village. Then, a terrifying earthquake strikes that causes a nearby nuclear station to explode. The residents must evacuate, but the family lives on a farm, with only half of the area designated as an evacuation area.
The Land of Hope
2012
User Reviews
0.0
Community rating
Loading reviews…
From the Blog
All Posts
News
Michael OTT Release Date: The Michael Jackson Biopic Streams August 29
The Michael Jackson biopic arrives on JioHotstar on August 29, 2026. Here is where to watch it, what you need, and why it is one of the year’s biggest music films.
Guides
What Should I Watch Tonight? How to Decide in 5 Minutes
The average person spends more time scrolling than watching. Here's a 5-minute method to pick tonight's movie or show by mood, not by endless browsing.