Cloud Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Cloud Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 20, 2026

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Cloud" (2024) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Janus Films/Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include recent program with the Japanese director and original trailer. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".

Of all the terrible practices social media has introduced, and, sadly, there are too many, doxxing is one of the absolute worst. It was legitimized by the same people who made it virtually impossible to view journalism as a respectable profession and permanently destroyed mainstream media’s ability to claim neutrality. Also, doxxing is here to stay. Regardless of how social media evolves in the future, doxxing will be impossible to contain and eliminate because it is enormously effective. Over time, people and institutions affected by it will simply learn to offset some of the damage it causes, most likely after new laws significantly expand their ability to retaliate through the court system.

At the center of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s new film, Cloud, is a conventional doxxing case that culminates in the worst possible way. After quitting his regular job at an industrial plant in Tokyo, Yoshii (Masaki Sada) relocates to a lavish home somewhere in the countryside to pursue a career as an online reseller of counterfeited goods. Yoshii’s decision thrills his girlfriend, Akiko (Kotone Furukawa), while a subsequent casual confirmation that he is also thinking about marriage transforms her into the happiest girl in Japan. To help him manage his new career, Yoshii then hires Sano (Daiken Okudaira), a struggling young man living in the area.

Soon after Yoshii unpacks his belongings and officially begins working as a full-time online reseller, however, disgruntled former customers successfully identify him and begin plotting his murder on a private community forum. The most unhinged of these disgruntled customers then organize a vigilante posse and travel to Yoshii’s new home in the countryside. After Yoshii is taken hostage, they prepare to torture and eventually kill him while streaming their ‘work’ to send a message to all other businessmen making money as he does.

The narrative produces a couple of intriguing themes. One of them is that online ‘justice’ breeds far shadier characters than Yoshii, and, while pursuing it, they are ready to commit much more serious crimes. But if they do commit such crimes, who is coming after them, and what type of ‘justice’ are they destined to get? In the final act, the drama is also framed as a byproduct of a familiar paradox. If Yoshii is successful, is it because he consistently outsmarts his clients, or because his clients consistently fail to realize that if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is?

The rage, destruction, and death that surround Yoshii’s doxxing are entirely believable, so claims that they should have been attached to elaborate character developments are unwarranted. Doxxing, regardless of how it is justified, is an emotional act, nine out of ten times charged with negativity that impairs judgment. Unsurprisingly, all of the violent individuals who go after Yoshii are overwhelmed by negativity that has transformed them into delusional human torpedoes.

The action material is terrific. It is not glamorous, as a Hollywood director would have undoubtedly wanted it to be, but rather casual and realistic. It correctly makes everyone involved in it look bad or horrible.

Last year, Cloud was selected to represent Japan in the Best International Feature Film category of the 97th Academy Awards.

Cloud Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Cloud arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Janus Films/Criterion.

Cloud looks very impressive on Blu-ray. I saw it for the second time a couple of nights ago, and I liked how many parts of it looked even more now. The big shootout in the warehouse produces visuals with an outstanding range of darker nuances, while the outdoor footage is rather strikingly sharp and detailed. As a result, at times, it feels like the current presentation is a native 4K presentation. The film does have a somewhat unusual warm appearance, emphasizing several subdued colors, but this is obviously a stylistic preference. Image stability is excellent. I did not notice any encoding anomalies to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Cloud Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The final act, where all the shootouts are, produces the most impressive dynamic contrasts. On the other hand, the film's sound design is not active in a way that could impress viewers who expect contemporary soundtracks to be very aggressive. All exchanges are clear, stable, and easy to follow. The English translation is excellent. The size of the English subtitles is excellent as well.

Cloud Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Meet the Filmmakers - in this recent program, Kiyoshi Kurosawa discusses the production and key themes of Cloud. In Japanese, with English subtitles. (16 min).

• Trailer - presented here is an original trailer for Cloud. In Japanese, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Leaflet - a leaflet featuring an essay by critic Sean Gilman.

Cloud Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If there are not enough gullible consumers to support shady opportunists like Yoshii, the business model Yoshii has mastered to create wealth will not thrive. Both sides are symptoms of a sick contemporary culture, which has also spawned millions of delusional justice warriors like the ones that doxx Yoshii and then proceed to live-stream his punishment. Needless to say, no one deserves the viewer's sympathy. While a bit too long, Cloud is a very good film, though not one of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's best. RECOMMENDED.