The Concierge(2023)

“The word ‘no’ doesn’t exist in a concierge’s dictionary.”

That’s just one of the demanding rules that Akino must abide by in her new job as a saleswoman at the elegant and expansive Hokkyoku Department Store. It’s a very special store — the customers are all animals, and the most valued among them are of extinct species. Sea minks, laughing owls, Japanese wolves, even an enormous mammoth — that’s Mr. Woolly, the celebrated sculptor whose works are showcased at the store. It’s still a luxury retail space, though, and anxious Akino finds her hands full with the customers’ challenging requests. These range from hard-to-find merchandise to more complicated matters of the heart. Can the inexperienced Akino fulfill their whims and meet their expectations? If she wants to keep her job, she’ll have to succeed while under constant observation by the fussy floor manager Mr. Toudou, a creepy consultant eager to downsize the staff, and the store’s enigmatic president (who is not a penguin, by the way!).

(Source: Fantasia International Film Festival, edited)