Spanish director Fernando Souza became closely acquainted with the extraordinary phenomenon of Japan’s host clubs. Now he introduces us to this little-known world of dazzling façades through Hikaru, a host who plays the part of the ideal man: he keeps female customers company (for a fee), flirts with them, and creates the illusion of love. Bringing fiction and documentary together in the style of a feature film is entirely fitting for a world in which love is an illusion—or at least is intended to remain one.
Hikaru has been doing this work for 15 years. He ranks among the top hosts and teaches beginners: “Forget who you are.” His real name is Takahito, and he really wants to have a child with his girlfriend and play video games. But to be successful, he adopts a different persona every night at Club Classy, where he is always the ideal charmer. He plays a game—and makes a lot of money doing it. But what will happen if he gets too good at it and falls in love? What if his girlfriend drifts away, 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.
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