Cloud – Review

As Ryôsuke Yoshii (Suda) negotiates reselling excess factory stock of “therapy devices” he weighs the risk of pricing them correctly and if they do not sell as he wants. He buys 30 electronic box devices at a very steep discount of 3,000 Yen each, loads up his small truck and drives away.

At home he snaps high resolution photos of the electronic miraculous therapy device for his online marketplace website, and lists each individual unit for 200,000 Yen, which is half of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (the same one that he lowballed). What a deal! Even if one sells, he’s already turned a large profit.

At his day job, Yoshii works at a large shirt factory warehouse, and the boss wants him to take on more responsibility and leadership. A raise is even offered, but Ryôsuke remains hesitant and does not accept. Hmmm… Could this be something to do with his large amount of cash made on his recent box reselling? He quickly heads home to check video game pricing and consider bulk buys of certain hot titles.

This is the life of watching the web and making money through markups and discount bulk buys. His girlfriend Akiko (Furukawa) looks forward to days of escaping her work and buying tons of shit. His friend Muraoka (Kubota) has some info and a possible new opportunity he will feel out tied to a new online auction setup, but definitely not shady dark web stuff. What could go wrong? It will take a modest 1,000,000 Yen investment of course…

As strange events happen, Yoshii has some decisions to make, as well as rising danger surrounding him. Cloud’s story covers interesting and realistic territory while delivering its plot of desire to make easy money, technology, and where it all pushes people. While reselling can work, crime just has better margins.

Cloud is well acted and meticulously directed by a veteran in the industry. The dialogue is enthralling and gives life to its varied characters. As it slowly builds into its story, the drama dives into tension and suspense at times, as well as seemingly accurate behaviors and reactions by all parties involved.

As long as you don’t need a breakneck pace with your crime thrillers, Cloud is a fairly intelligent look at online business as well as scalpers, bootleggers and more devious related elements like liars and fraudsters. It runs a touch long and while there may not be many sympathetic characters, the film is very watchable.

“This is your chance. Now or never.”