A washed up horror film director named Kôji Kuroishi and his assistant director named Miho Ichikawa visit a house deep in wooded mountains to film a movie. Once arrived, they meet a mentally deranged woman named Maria Miyoshi who proclaims she's a fan of Kuroishi's works. The woman pleads that she's experienced the same things as documented in Kuroishi's works. Unexplainable phenomena quickly begin to happen, so Kuroishi sets out to document these experiences and turn them into a film, together with the help of a 'super volunteer' named Shôhei Uno and a handsome psychic medium named Nanashi.
At a movie studio in 1988, rookie director Hanako Hayashi is making her directorial debut, the erotic As Far as Love Will Take Us. She's under pressure from her producer and crew. When she is about to shoot the climax of the film, numerous problems arise. To make matters worse, the set is visited by a censor from the Film Certification Committee, and the key scenes end up being cut out to avoid an R rating. Can Hanako realise her dream?
In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.