Just before Black Friday, an online shopping delivery turns deadly when it explodes, setting off a series of unexplained bombings that terrorize the entire country. A film by Ayuko Tsukahara, starring Hikari Mitsushima, Masaki Okada, Dean Fujioka, Koji Ohkura, Yoshi Sakou, Shohei Uno, Tamae Ando, Tomomi Maruyama, Sawa Nimura, Shingo Mizusawa, Kenji Iwaya, and Tomu Miyazaki.

The night before Black Friday, a package from the online retailer Daily Fast Japan arrives at Mr. Koji Satonaka’s apartment, delivered by Hitsuji Express (羊急便). Shortly after he opens the package, an explosion erupts from inside his apartment. Flames quickly engulf the entire unit as the delivery driver watches in terror from outside.

Black Friday in Japan is a relatively new shopping event inspired by the American tradition, but it differs in several ways. Instead of being a single day after Thanksgiving, it typically spans from mid to late November, sometimes lasting several days or even weeks. The event is not an official holiday and holds no cultural significance; it is purely a promotional period for retailers. The first Black Friday sale in Japan was held by Toys “R” Us Japan in 2014. This event marked the earliest recorded instance of a Black Friday sale in the country, followed by other retailers like GAP in 2015. However, these early sales were relatively small-scale and did not immediately establish Black Friday as a major shopping event in Japan. It was in 2016 when AEON, one of Japan’s largest retailers, held a large-scale Black Friday sale that helped officially kickstart the tradition in Japan, leading to increased awareness and participation in subsequent years.

On the first day of the Black Friday event, hundreds of dispatch employees arrive at the Nishi Musashino (西武蔵野) Logistics Center, operated by Daily Fast, the world’s largest shopping site headquartered in the United States. On a typical day, there are 700 dispatch employees, but for the start of Black Friday, the company increases its workforce to 800. The warehouse spans over 150,000 square meters and handles 40% of the country’s domestic distribution.

Newly appointed center director Elena Funato (舟渡エレナ portrayed by Hikari Mitsushima) and manager Ko Nashimoto (梨本孔 portrayed by Masaki Okada) are visited by Detective Takanori Kariya (刈谷貴教 portrayed by Yoshi Sakou) and his partner Detective Tadaharu Mouri (毛利忠治 portrayed by Koji Ohkura), who inform them about an explosion incident that killed Mr. Koji Satonaka. Despite Elena’s insistence that they don’t ship any explosive products, the detectives maintain that a package shipped from this warehouse exploded upon delivery and hand her the report from Hitsuji Express.

Ko runs the parcel number on his computer and discovers that its content was a Daily Phone, a smartphone developed and manufactured by Daily Fast that was first released in the US six months ago and in Germany two months ago. The main benefit of the Daily Phone is that when customers place orders through the device, 10% points are automatically added to their account. In Japan, Daily Phone presales began yesterday. Elena assures the detectives that there have been zero accident reports and that there’s no possibility the phone could explode.

Meanwhile, in Nerima, another explosion occurs at an insurance building. The detectives leave the Logistics Center and rush over since it’s not far away. Elena pulls up the report and discovers that there were nine deliveries to that building today, and one of them contained a Daily Phone.

Elena asks Ko to go down to the warehouse and retrieve 24 Daily Phones scheduled to ship this afternoon to investigate whether their contents have been replaced with explosives.

Elena contacts her boss, Dogen Igarashi (五十嵐道元 portrayed by Dean Fujioka), General Manager at Daily Fast Japan Headquarters, to inform him that Daily Phone shipments have been temporarily suspended. Dogen warns her that suspending shipments will prevent them from achieving the monthly sales target of 10,000 phones. He insists it’s impossible for the phones to explode.

Elena shares her theory that someone may have swapped out the Daily Phones and replaced them with explosives in what could be a terrorist act. However, if Dogen personally guarantees on behalf of Daily Fast Japan Headquarters that the Daily Phone parcels are absolutely safe, she’ll lift the suspension and resume shipments immediately. Elena also requests that Dogen put this assurance in writing and sign it. Dogen gives Elena permission to inspect the phone shipment, as long as she can still achieve sales target.

Ryuhei Yagi (八木竜平 portrayed by Sadawo Abe), Kanto branch manager of Hitsuji Express, receives a call from Elena regarding 39 parcels containing Daily Phones, asking him to check all the packages on the list she emailed him. Ryuhei is hesitant to comply with Elena’s request, claiming the packages have already been shipped out. He eventually gives in when Elena warns him that if someone dies, the responsibility will be his.

MIU police arrive at a community mall where another bomb has just detonated, injuring dozens of people. A damaged parcel box with the Daily Fast logo is found at the scene. Police detect traces of Nitromethane in the remains from all three incidents, confirming these are not accidents. The police conclude that the bombs are triggered only when the product boxes are opened. So far, the explosives that detonated were placed inside boxes containing a Daily Phone, Speaker, and Aroma Diffuser.

Directed by Japanese filmmaker Ayuko Tsukahara from a screenplay by Akiko Nogi, LAST MILE is a suspense thriller with a compelling narrative that builds tension and keeps viewers on edge as they try to guess who is pulling the strings behind a series of mysterious parcel explosions and, more importantly, how the culprit managed to slip past security to fulfill their sinister plan.

While the film’s marketing promoted it as part of screenwriter Akiko Nogi’s shared universe connecting the Japanese TV dramas アンナチュラル (Unnatural) and MIU404, the story stands on its own. Rather than heavily depending on those connections, the film focuses primarily on its own gripping tale of Black Friday bombings. Though characters and cameos from both shows do appear to link the narratives together, the film works as an independent thriller that doesn’t require viewers to be familiar with the other series.

“Unnatural” (アンナチュラル) is a 2018 Japanese TV series that centers on a forensic doctor working at the Unnatural Death Investigation Laboratory (UDI Lab), a fictional facility established to investigate deaths caused by unnatural circumstances. A key subplot involves the search for a serial killer connected to several victims bearing a unique mark. The series consists of 10 episodes.

MIU404 is a 2020 Japanese TV series that follows the Mobile Investigative Unit (MIU) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The series centers on a brilliant detective and an inexperienced officer. Together, they respond rapidly to various cases, aiming to solve crimes within 24 hours. The series consists of 11 episodes.

LAST MILE (ラストマイル) was theatrically released in Japan on 23 August 2024.

塚原あゆ子＆野木亜紀子＆新井順子が明かす社会派エンタメ「ラストマイル」の反響

「塚原さんの“荷物が爆発する”というアイデアから始まった企画なので、事件が起これば初動捜査をする刑事たちがいて、死人が出れば解剖する人がいるから、以前『アンナチュラル』の次に『MIU404』をやる時に『同じ世界線だったら面白くない？』という発想やったことの延長で、たまたま無理なく事件に絡ませられただけなんです。ドラマを見ていないとわからない映画は嫌だし、そういうことをやりたいわけではなかったので、最初から映画だけで独立したものにしたいとは思っていました。興行収入59.6億円の大ヒットを記録し、脚本の野木亜紀子が第98回キネマ旬報ベスト・テン日本映画脚本賞や第48回日本アカデミー賞最優秀脚本賞、監督の塚原あゆ子が第49回報知映画賞など、多数の映画賞を受賞する高い評価を受けた映画「ラストマイル」。

映画『ラストマイル』が勧善懲悪ではない理由とは？塚原あゆ子監督・新井順子プロデューサーと考える、感謝がめぐる物流の未来
『ダイ・ハード』のようなエンターテインメント作品を目指していたのですが、普通の勧善懲悪のエンターテインメント作品であれば、明確な悪、つまり「犯人」がいるから、その犯人を見つけたら終わりじゃないですか。でも、私たちが生きている現実はそうではないですよね。物流課題をモチーフに話を膨らませていくと、その「犯人」は無邪気に購入ボタンを押している私たちかもしれない、ということになる。作品内で厳しかったり、間違ったりしているように聞こえるセリフも、会社、つまり組織というシステムの中で働く重圧があるからこそ生まれているものです。期せずして、非常に社会性を含んだ作品になったように感じます。