Tonight is Forever

After having worked as a host himself, Spanish director Fernando Souza brings us into the extraordinary phenomenon of Japan’s host clubs. In this little-known world of dazzling façades, host Hikaru plays the part of the perfect man: he keeps female customers company, flirts with them, and makes them fall in love—for a fee. Bringing fiction and documentary together in the style of a feature film is entirely fitting for a world in which fantasy and reality are difficult to tell apart.

Hikaru has been doing this work for 15 years. He ranks among the top hosts and teaches beginners: “In a host club you need to forget who you are.” Following his own advice, he adopts a persona that goes against who he is at heart: an introvert who wants to have a child with his real girlfriend. However, selling love poisons real love and his girlfriend struggles to trust him. How long will his clients' fantasies last? What will he do if his own illusion crumbles and he loses his grip on who he is?

In 2025, Japan passed a law aimed partly at protecting customers at host clubs from romantic deception.