10 Essential 2015 Movies You Might've Missed (So Far)

3. Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Another great meta-movie released this year is Kumiko. The Treasure Hunter, executive produced by Alexander 'Nebraska' Payne, with director David Zellner sharing his sensibility for quirky characterisation and the way in which the landscapes around us shape who we are. Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi, last seen battling huge monsters in Pacific Rim) is a bored, introverted office worker obsessed with footage from the Coen Brothers' Fargo in which Steve Buscemi's character buries a case full of cash by a fence. Taking the "Based on a true story" title card literally, she sets out to America to hunt down the cash for herself. This strange cinematic road trip is actually based on the urban legend surrounding the death of Takako Konishi, an office worker who was found dead in Minnesota in 2001 - art imitating life imitating heresay.