Godzilla Minus One
Godzilla Minus One (2023) is a kaiju second-chances film about Godzilla in post-war Japan after World War II. I found it to be a surprisingly sad film despite having a “nice” ending. It has a lot of emotional moments where the main character Koichi struggles with their cowardice from being unable to fulfill expected social contracts: failing to carry out his duty in the war as a kamikaze pilot, being unable to fire the 20mm gun at Godzilla to save the aircraft mechanics, and asking Kumiko to be his wife. However, he eventually overcomes his inner struggle and redeems himself by taking down Godzilla. 1