The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (2022)

The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes feels like a whispered urban legend turned into a tender coming-of-age ache, where one impossible place in the countryside holds the kind of hope you only dare to want when you’re hurting. Tomohisa Taguchi wraps the story in luminous, nostalgic animation and lets the romance grow in quiet, human beats—two lonely teens circling their grief and ambition until they find, in each other, a reason to move forward. The vibe is dreamy and melancholic rather than flashy sci‑fi, more about the cost of longing than the mechanics of magic, and it lands its emotions with a sincerity that sneaks up on you. If you’re in the mood for a gentle, cathartic tearjerker with a satisfying finish—and you don’t mind a deliberate pace—this is a hidden gem worth taking the detour for.

The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes is clearly aiming for that tender, bittersweet “one summer that changed everything” vibe, using a time-bending fantasy hook to talk about grief, ambition, and first love. When it works, it’s because the mood is gentle, the countryside nostalgia is soothing, and the emotional idea behind the tunnel has real pull. But the film’s biggest problem is that it feels like it’s speedrunning a bigger story: the sci‑fi rules are thin, the romance can seem more “assigned” than earned, and the character work is a bit generic for such heavy themes. If you want a fully fleshed-out, mind-bending time story or a deeply developed relationship drama, this may leave you unsatisfied; if you’re okay with a pretty, wistful snapshot that prioritizes feeling over detail, it’ll go down easier.