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Every Trick In The Book

Name: Every Trick In The Book
Director: Hideta Takahata
Released: 2021
Duration: 119 min

Representation Score

3.7/10

Limited

2021

Director

Hideta Takahata

Runtime

119 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Every Trick In The Book operates as a traditional mystery-drama that prioritizes plot-driven tension over demographic exploration. While the film gives a significant role to a female protagonist, the core conflict remains rooted in a male-dominated criminal and literary hierarchy. The setting and character profiles suggest a culturally homogeneous Japanese environment. While this provides a specific sense of place, the story does not actively deconstruct social hierarchies or introduce multi-layered identities. Ultimately, the film functions as a standard genre piece. It lacks the necessary elements of progressive representation or the subversion of traditional social structures to achieve a higher diversity score.

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Category Breakdown

Does Every Trick In The Book have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The mystery revolves around a Naoki Prize-winning author and a driver for a call girl business. There is no explicit mention of LGBTQ+ identities or non-traditional gender narratives within the plot.

How does Every Trick In The Book portray gender?

Fair

Editor Nahomi Torikai plays a central role in driving the plot forward. However, the main conflict centers around male characters, including the author and an underworld kingpin.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Every Trick In The Book?

Fair

Set in Toyama Prefecture, the story features a culturally homogeneous Japanese cast. The narrative reflects its specific geographic context without showing significant ethnic or multi-layered diversity.

How does Every Trick In The Book represent religion and culture?

Fair

The film explores subjective morality and the instability of truth through a postmodern lens. It examines systemic corruption but lacks clear evidence of specific spiritual or institutional critiques.

Does Every Trick In The Book include disability representation?

Minimal

The narrative provides no information regarding characters with visible or invisible disabilities. There is no mention of neurodivergence or chronic health conditions.

Present on Screen

Nahomi Torikai serves as a proactive female protagonist who drives the investigative narrative.
The setting provides a specific and culturally grounded Japanese context.

Limited or Absent

The narrative lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or queer ability to act.
The central conflict relies heavily on traditional male-driven criminal and literary hierarchies.
There is a lack of ethnic or multi-layered diversity within the character cast.

Official Synopsis

Shinichi Tsuda, a Naoki Prize winning author, is working to publish his newest story. It revolves around Tsuyama, a driver for a call girl business in Toyama Prefecture, who comes across a mysterious counterfeit bill and has his life targeted by underworld kingpin Kurata. Is his story fact or fiction? His editor, Nahomi Torikai, decides to verify whether his latest work is mere fiction based on real-life experiences. She looks into a family that vanished, a post office worker who went missing, a shady load of cash, the whereabouts of the doves, and the fateful encounter from that night... A series of shocking facts are revealed from Tsuda’s stories. Why did the counterfeit money end up in Tsuda’s hands? What is the “ending” that Tsuda wished to portray?

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