[Review] When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead: What is Marriage in This World?

Perhaps it's because the title is so humorous, or perhaps the poster looks so adorable, but When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead became a hot topic online months before its official release. I believe many viewers were highly anticipating it.

First, thanks to Golden Scene for inviting me to a preview screening a month ago. Just hearing the title When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead immediately suggests this will be a lighthearted comedy. Then, seeing the poster with Chie (Nana Eikura) being bitten by an alligator, and Jun (Ken Yasuda) beside her with a look of helplessness, you might assume the film would lean into silly, uproarious humor. However, the film's core theme revolves around marriage, and even delves into family relationships, making it a surprisingly weighty subject. Historically, movies about love and marriage have primarily been romance or drama genres, often leaving audiences in tears of emotion. When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead packages this heavy theme with light comedy, allowing audiences to laugh throughout while also prompting reflection on marriage and love. It's a fresh attempt.

"My wife pretends to be dead every day." Audiences entering the cinema surely carry the same question: Why does the wife pretend to be dead every day? Is it to gain her husband's attention? Or is it because she has a terminal illness and wants to prepare her husband psychologically? These were my own initial guesses before and during the early part of the film. So, why exactly does the wife pretend to be dead every day? Towards the end of the film, it's Chie herself who asks Jun this question, and the film deliberately leaves it ambiguous, not revealing Jun's answer, nor providing a definitive "true" answer to the audience. So, you watch the whole film and still don't know why the wife pretends to be dead? I believe everyone has their own answer, and that answer largely depends on their personal views on marriage and love. After watching the entire film, understanding Jun and Chie's backgrounds, their circumstances, and combining that with one's own perspective on marriage, I believe each viewer will arrive at a unique answer to this question. Therefore, this review, with minor spoilers, won't tell you why the wife pretends to be dead, because there's simply nothing to spoil in that regard. I have my own answer to this question, but I feel it's not important for others, because a couple's marriage or relationship is their own private matter. Even if this question is to be discussed, it should be between the audience and their partner or family members. Just like in the film, when Jun and Chie witness the marital troubles of their colleagues (Yumiko Sano and Sôma Sano), they don't actively try to resolve it, because ultimately, it's their relationship, and only they can fix it. Hence, I feel this film is very suitable for viewers to watch with their closest loved ones.

It's often said: "What is love in this world? It makes one willing to die for another." This film asks: "What is marriage in this world? It makes a wife pretend to be dead every day." The relationship between Jun and Chie will likely resonate with many viewers. How many people believe that "love for ten thousand years" truly exists? If not, do you think love has an expiration date? If it does, do people enter marriage already anticipating "marrying to divorce," ending in separation? If not, do you already have a consensus that even if feelings fade and you no longer love each other, you should still strive to maintain the marriage because the process itself is part of marriage? Just as Jun feels he's at a crossroads, needing to decide whether this marriage should continue, Chie, inexplicably, pretends to be dead every day. Perhaps this is meant to provide novelty and fun for Jun, who is busy with work and bored with life. But when Chie does this daily, without any explanation, and also wastes a lot of money, Jun starts to feel impatient. No matter how long you've known each other or how deep your feelings are, we and our partners are ultimately two independent individuals, unable to completely understand each other's intentions. When Jun asks Chie for an explanation, hoping she'll stop her "nonsense," Chie ignores him. Is it that Jun doesn't understand, or is Chie too self-centered? This is also a relative question. The film poses many different questions, never formally answering them, but finally includes a story about Chie's childhood and explains two frequently recurring lines of dialogue in the film, indirectly answering all the questions.

Reading this, you might feel that this film is very complex, raising questions without providing answers. The film is two hours long, its past is very winding, incorporating many sub-plots, not direct at all, and the pace is quite slow. However, upon careful reflection, marriage or relationships themselves are this complex, and many questions can only be held in one's heart, hoping for a resolution one day. When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead primarily takes Jun's perspective, and audiences will also feel impatient like him while watching. But after experiencing the entire film and reflecting, everything will become clear. Fortunately, this long process is interspersed with numerous hilarious scenes of Chie pretending to be dead. Each scene showcases the production team's creativity and ingenuity, with surprises in every segment, making the viewing experience full of joy and laughter, alleviating the film's heavy side. Surprisingly, the film even touches upon Japanese literature, which is a big surprise and also very romantic. I believe everyone will gain something from watching it.