It was revealed on October 24th that singer, actor, and model Suzuki Airi will be playing her first solo lead role in the film "A Place Where I Can Say I'm Home" (directed by Tsukamoto Renpei, scheduled for release on January 23rd, 2026). A teaser visual was also released. Suzuki will play Asai Eriko, a middle school teacher who is unable to become independent from her parents and faces her students while harboring inner conflict. Suzuki commented, "When I first read the script, I couldn't stop feeling grateful to my mother and burst into tears."
The film will be directed by Tsukamoto, who is well-known for his human dramas such as "35th Anniversary Love Letter" (2025), and the music will be composed by Haruka Nakamura, who worked on the animated feature film "Lookback" (2024).
She's an adult, but she doesn't want to go to school. She's an adult, but she's going through a rebellious phase. Asai Eriko is a middle school teacher who can't become independent from her parents. Meanwhile, Chika, a "girl who has been absent from school for an unknown reason," wears the mask of an adult who is good at studying, has friends, and isn't a delinquent. The two are teacher and student at the same school, and they both can't leave their rooms. One day, when Eriko posts her hobby BL manga online, she hits it off with a girl named "Chi." That girl is Chika. Without realizing it, they exchange opinions on social media, and before they know it, they become best friends who can talk honestly. They confront their parents and school, trying to leave their rooms together, but the truth behind Chika's absence and Eriko's past wounds corner the two, and the world around them begins to move in an unexpected direction... This is the story.
Kawaguchi Mana plays Chika, a girl who doesn't go to school, Otsuki Nene plays Eriko's mother, Yuriko, and Ito Ayumi plays Chika's mother, Madoka.
The teaser visual that has been released shows Eriko gazing ahead in a soft space bathed in light, with two pairs of mothers and daughters "looking forward" with their own thoughts in their hearts.
◇Comment from Suzuki Airi
In this film, I play a woman who has experienced social withdrawal due to emotional trauma in the past, but who is now working hard as a school teacher.
Even in the classes I teach, incidents occur that cause hurt feelings for children due to various factors, and as a teacher I struggle not only to deal with these incidents but also to deal with strong demands from parents.
I think the film clearly shows the differences in reasons for school absenteeism between the Heisei and Reiwa eras, as well as the accompanying differences in home environments, and I feel that having a place where you can say "I'm home," in whatever form, is always a source of support for people's hearts.
The themes are thought-provoking in many parts, but the play also has a side that will make you chuckle and bring you to tears with warm feelings. When I first read the script, I couldn't stop feeling grateful to the mother and burst into tears.
This is a careful and delicate story that was created in the warm atmosphere created by Director Tsukamoto. I hope that it will inspire everyone who watches it to say "thank you" and "I'm home" to someone special. Please come and see it in the theater.
