A vivid snapshot of queer life in contemporary Japan, set beneath the blinding neon-lit bulbs of Tokyo, Tiger centers on a 35-year-old erotic masseur named Taiga (played by the equally sensitive and sensual Takashi Kawaguchi). While trying to revive his unsatisfying love life and navigate complicated family dynamics at the same time, Taiga is also attempting to parlay his massage skills into on-camera sex work — a task that sounded much easier than it ends up being.

On top of his romantic and professional exploits, complications arise around his ailing father and domineering sister, who threatens to cut Taiga out of the family inheritance. Writer/director Anshul Chauhan realizes his center’s purgatory with stunning detail, from the pulse-pounding beats that drive Tokyo nightlife to the nightmarish hum of hospitals. Tiger is the work of a confident and assured young filmmaker, one with a talent for presenting a portrait of the everyday life of dynamic individuals determined to live life on their own terms.