A truly original Vertigo riff, Asako I & II is an enchanting paean to the notion of love as a trance state. Asako and Baku share an intense, all-consuming romance — but one day the moody Baku ups and vanishes. Two years later, Asako meets Baku’s exact double. Ryusuke Hamaguchi, one of Japan’s most celebrated filmmakers, has made a beguiling and mysterious film that traces the trajectory of a love — or, to be accurate, two loves — found, lost, displaced, and regained.

Asako I & II is one of the most deceptively simple — and rewarding — films you’re likely to see this year, the product of an original young talent in world cinema. On Opening Night, July 26 at 6:15pm, CGAC Director of Programming Nat Chediak will open a window onto a film that richly deserves the widest possible audience.