Poignant, sorrowful, and grief-inducing – documentary filmmaker Katharine Round directs Ghost Town. This feature-length documentary by Disobedient Films explores the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami. Round focuses on the coastal city of Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Residents from the town across different generations share their stories.

Ghost Town interestingly captures how the town recovers post-disaster in the present day. Kamaishi is aptly called ‘ghost town’ because what was once a lively place now feels lonely and desolate. But there’s been plenty of ghost sightings over the years too. The cast of taxi drivers adds a little more spark to the ride. Toru Konno, Yoshiji Iwasaki, Fumio Goto, and Masaaki Koike are all very different and add either a contemplative account or a more humorous disposition. Their personalities lead this documentary. They acknowledge the ghosts and live alongside them.

Heartbreakingly, the town will never see the same liveliness as it did pre-tsunami. There’s a sweeping achiness written in each of their stories. In a way, the drivers keep the ghosts and their stories alive through interacting and treating them like they’re living passengers. Captured over one night, Round describes Ghost Town as “extraordinary conversations that drift between everyday mundanities and magical dreamworlds.” The documentary combines the memories left behind with the ghosts the taxi drivers encounter.

Post-natural disasters, it’s not often we think about how the town recovers, particularly fifteen years later. It’s usually what happened around the time. But to revisit Kamaishi and discuss the emotional impact is a really interesting take. The effect isn’t just the land, but the lives lost, the memories swept away at sea, and the trauma left behind. All things we can’t physically see but we can emotionally feel. For the viewer Ghost Town certainly leads you on an emotional experience. Hearing from multiple subjects across different generations and walks of life shows the emotional impact behind the 2011 Japanese tsunami. These personal accounts explore the real people behind the impersonal data shown online.

Round places her camera directly into the action – inside the taxi to capture their conversations, whether that be with the living or the dead. We follow three taxi drivers on their journeys, driving passengers around and discussing the 2011 tsunami. Their accounts are solemn and eerie. At times, it feels like the phantom passenger may be sitting in the seat behind them as they drive.

It’s interesting to note how each conversation is unscripted and therefore spontaneous. This makes Ghost Town feel intrusive but very real. Passengers recall their own and the town’s grief. Their memories post-event intertwine with their own everyday life, from their dreams to their regrets. However, this heartbreakingly reminds us that although memories can last forever, life moves on.

Using the same setting and scenery running throughout the length of the documentary can become arduous and monotonous. Sometimes their stories feel woven into one. It can be somewhat confusing to constantly keep up. The taxi is described as “a moving confession booth.” Ghost Town is interestingly captured through minimal settings, purely focusing on the subjects’ personal stories. It feels like we’re watching a therapy session where the camera is the therapist listening in.

Round captures their stories in a voyeuristic way. We don’t just watch over the taxi drivers in the car, but also as they switch at the local taxi firm when their shifts are over too. This gives us an insight into their everyday lives beyond the conversation between themselves and their passenger(s).

Ghost Town’s premise is indeed interesting. But although the tone is solemn, their conversations throughout the documentary needed more power. There’s so much potential in their stories, but it would have been more interesting with a clearer structure, more exterior scenery shots, and faster-paced editing at times.  Ghost Town is set for UK theatrical release on 6th November 2026.

★★

https://vimeo.com/1189388244?fl=pl&fe=sh

In UK cinemas from November 6^th / Toru Konno, Yoshiji Iwasaki, Fumio Goto, Masaaki Koike / Dir: Katharine Round / Disobedient Films / PG

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Hannah Taylor

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