Him

This film tells the story of a woman who, confronted with loneliness and an emotional void, seeks refuge in a virtual world—a world where love, understanding, and even communication itself takes on an unreal, virtual nature. She is caught between three representations of masculinity: a deceased husband, an unfulfilled lover who was never realized, and Nia, an AI resembling an idealized prince who exists solely to meet her needs.
In this world, the boundary between reality and illusion gradually dissolves, raising the film’s central question: In an era where technology allows us to live alongside our imagined ideals, is there still a need for real relationships? Has the time come for reality to yield to illusion?
The woman, seemingly creating an internal audience for herself, attempts to narrate her story to this new listener while becoming consumed by the melancholia of these fabricated images—none of which are real. In this narrative, the word Piyake/Him could refer to any of these figures: the deceased husband, the unrealized lover, the AI, or even the melancholic projections of the woman’s own mind.
This film stems from my observations of human relationships in the digital age, where the lines between reality and illusion are rapidly blurring. Piyake/Him is not about human relationships but about the substitutes we create for them. It is a film about reality and illusion.