PERFECT DAYS

Here's the decision. Wim Wenders, the acclaimed German director, has made something rare: a Japanese-language drama with almost no plot at all, and it works. It follows a toilet cleaner named Hirayama through the same daily rhythm, and somehow finds beauty, dignity, and quiet joy in every repeated step. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for good reason.

There are things to weigh. Hirayama visits a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine, and the film can be read as one man's pursuit of Eastern enlightenment. There's brief foul language, and you'll see natural nudity in the bathhouse scenes — bare backsides, nothing more. None of it is dwelt on.

And here's the surprise: Hirayama's life looks a great deal like the one Jesus commended. He gives away his money and his possessions freely, even to someone who stole from him. If you're a teen or adult who enjoys slow, contemplative films and can navigate the cautions above, this one rewards patience.

Hirayama is a middle-aged man who cleans public toilets in Tokyo. His life is a routine: wake, work, eat lunch in the park, photograph the trees, wash at the bathhouse, read until sleep. Then do it all again.

He listens to cassette tapes on his drive. He helps a lost child. He works alongside a younger, less reliable coworker. His days look identical — until small disruptions arrive from the people around him, and the quiet man's steadiness meets the messiness of other lives.

Three stars, and earned. This is expertly crafted filmmaking. The visuals are outstanding, drawing out the beauty hidden in ordinary life, and the soundtrack is filled with wonderful songs. The acting is quietly excellent throughout.

What's remarkable is that a film seemingly without plot holds you. Wenders trades story momentum for the realism of everyday life, and asks you to find, alongside Hirayama, the joy in repetition and small kindnesses. That it took home the Palme d'Or, Cannes' highest honor, tells you how well the gamble pays off. If you need a driving narrative, this won't be your film — but on its own terms, it's beautifully realized and hard to shake.

Underneath its stillness, PERFECT DAYS carries a genuinely moral heart. It promotes family, humility, compassion, and generosity — and its central character embodies them. Hirayama lives a poor, humble life and finds joy in it. He gives his money away when a coworker begs, leaving himself with nothing for gas. He gives his book to his niece. He is generous to everyone, even to those who wrong him.

There's a striking echo of Scripture here. In Matthew 19, Jesus tells a rich young man to give up all his possessions and follow — and Hirayama, whether he knows it or not, lives out that pattern again and again.

But the film breathes Eastern air. Hirayama visits a shrine or temple surrounded by little Buddhist or Shinto statues, and his constant reading and pursuit of knowledge can be read as a search for enlightenment through Eastern religion. That's the caution: the film's longing for peace and meaning is real, but it points toward a horizon the gospel would redirect.

For the joy Hirayama seeks in daily faithfulness is a real thing — and Scripture names its true source: "This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

Wim Wenders has given us a quiet, beautiful meditation on finding joy in the ordinary — and a humble man who lives out generosity in a way that echoes the gospel more than he may realize. Mind the brief language, the bathhouse nudity, and the Eastern religious threads, and this is worth the trip — teens and adults. A gentle, moving film for viewers ready to slow down.