Tama (Kadowaki Mugi), a mousy doctoral candidate in philosophy, feels stalled in her studies and somewhat detached from life: hers and others. In an almost Faustian moment, her professor (Lily Franky) makes a suggestion that will change everything about the way she sees the world: much like French photographer Sophie Calle whose work is based on ‘following strangers’, he suggests that she picks a random person and follows him every day to learn his dullest routines and deepest secrets. On the spur of the moment, she chooses her neighbor, a successful book editor and seemingly perfect family man. After a few days trailing him, Tama discovers the thrill of being a stranger’s shadow and realizes there is more to the ordinary than meets the eye. But her growing voyeuristic obsession soon gets her inextricably tangled in other people’s secrets. A Double Life launches a truly original voice in Japanese cinema.