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I expected to like this: The plot sounded interesting, and with such an evocative title, in the very least, I hoped to be thoroughly creeped out. And at first, I was. Half way through the film, however, the plot started to derail, and everything stopped making sense. It quickly devolved from a tense mystery thriller to a hot, confused mess - instead of biting my nails, I began rolling my eyes and groaning at the absurdity of these characters and the nonsensical plot.
That's not to say it didn't have its good points: The acting was PHENOMENAL, particularly Teruyuki
Kagawa as Nishinio. He truly was creepy and did an excellent job putting viewers on edge. Also, the atmosphere was suitably unsettling and managed to stay that way throughout a majority of the film. It was a decent watch, but personally, plot and character are important to me, so the underwhelming shift/twist in the story was a huge let-down that I couldn't overlook.
Normally, I wouldn’t be so harsh in a review, but since this film was judged so highly in ratings and online reviews - which is the main reason I chose to watch it - I feel obliged to present an alternate viewpoint for the more casual viewer, those who are unfamiliar with this particular director, and have none of his past works to compare it to.
Because my main gripe is an important one:
NOTHING MADE SENSE
There is so much here to unpack, I’m just going to address each part/issue individually.
THE WONDER DRUG
This was such a cop out. I still don't understand its purpose or even why/how it worked. Why couldn’t they give us a normal serial killer, one who used intimidation, threats, fear, and manipulation to control his victims? Why take away his power, and everything that makes him intriguing and creepy, and turn him into a simple drug pusher instead? Because honestly, this drug made absolutely no sense. How could it work so quickly? Why did it have mind-controlling capabilities? Why did it work sometimes, but not ALL the time? And if it was imperfect, why didn’t the victims fight back?
As for its backstory: How did Nishinio even get his hands on it? Did he create it himself? Steal it from somewhere? Or was this a drug that existed naturally in this film’s world, but they just forgot to tell us?
The fact that none of these questions can be explained it ridiculous. You can’t just jump genres like that mid-movie without explanation. You can’t go from an intriguing atmospheric mystery/police thriller, to a film about a lazy killer who uses a magical drug to make people kill their own families. (Kinda. Sometimes.)
Just NO. Do better.
YASUKO
Why did they ruin her character? She started out so interesting and relatable - a lonely housewife who just wants to connect with her new neighbors, who is continually (and unwittingly) putting herself into danger with her need to be friendly and neighborly. I was looking forward to seeing her in peril, or in the very least, to see her serve as a catalyst to return her husband to his field of passion: Criminal Psychology.
But instead, none of that happened. Rather than keep her under constant threat, or use her as a potential victim whose safety we are constantly in fear for… they turned her into some confusing puppet who becomes one of the killer’s underlings thanks to the aforementioned “wonder drug”. She loses her personality and everything that made her interesting in the first place.
you can tell she's doing reluctantly... so even if the drug is “working” it’s clearly not working completely. Which begs the question, during a moment of lucidity, why didn’t she go to her husband? Why did she go along with everything? Why is the drug so important when it only seems to work off/on? And how did she get hooked on that drug in the first place when she was so weary of Nishino from the start?
And then there’s Yasuko’s husband. How did Koichi never notice those marks on her arm? From the very beginning, we’re given no indication that their marriage is strained, or that they’re unhappy. In fact, his very first interaction with Nishino seems to show the opposite: He knows his wife pretty well. He knows she’s not nosy, or pushy, or the type to overstep boundaries, and he knows everything Nishino tells him about her is a lie. He’s so unimpressed, actually, that he even dismisses the warning out of hand, and suggests she keeps her distance from their neighbors after all. It’s that interaction which first sours him against Nishino, and eventually leads to having Nogami investigate him.
And yet, we’re supposed to believe that a criminal psychologist, who’s already wary of his creepy new neighbor, wouldn’t notice his wife’s odd behavior? He wouldn’t think it’s strange that at bedtime she’s wearing long sleeves in summer? That she shivers from withdrawal, suddenly needs a fan all the time, and randomly stares into space? I know he’s preoccupied with the cold case he’s looking into, but even then, we’re shown he notices when something’s off about her… so the fact that he dismisses it, and doesn’t address it again, seems out of character and written for convenience rather than anything else.
SAKI/THE COLD CASE
Honestly, from the very beginning, nothing about how these events unfold, make sense: Why was Saki so quick to trust Koichi and Nogami? I mean, their initial meeting was literally them chasing her and grabbing her threateningly after seeing her at her old house. (Need I point out how convenient all of this was too?? Koichi learning about the case from his colleague, his old partner asking for his help with that very same cold-case, coincidentally spotting the sole witness outside the old crime scene). And yet, somehow, all of this leads to them gaining her trust?? Okay lol. Besides, I have no idea why they were so quick to believe anything she said, anyway, since she was known as an unreliable witness. Especially since it had been 6 years since the incident so her memory couldn’t have been the greatest. So every time she had a “break-through” I didn’t understand why they were so quick to believe her. Particularly when her revelations made absolutely no sense.
Revelation #1: She remembered both her parents talking to someone on the phone, on separate occasions, and without any reason or proof, came to the conclusion that it was the same person. Revelation #2: She recalls that her brother, who was in high school, came home several times drunk, and again, without proof, assumes he was forced to drink. But not only that, he was supposedly forced by the same person who her parents had been talking to on the phone… because, reasons? LOL
Revelation #3: She recalls a strange man staring up at her, and after realizing it was her next door neighbor… assumes HE was the person her parents were speaking to on the phone before they disappeared. Again, without any justification or reason. That’s the conclusion she comes to simply because the story needs to progress, and they need the audience to make the connection with what Koichi and Yasuko are currently experiencing.
And yet, two seasoned detectives take her “spontaneous memories” as gospel, and don’t bother to question anything she tells them. So in the end, all this does is give us more questions: Was she involved in her parents murder, like Mio, but forgot? Did she block her memories in order to protect herself? Did she truly never meet her neighbor? And if she did, how did she get away? Why was she spared? Was it even the same killer, or just a coincidence? Why didn’t she recognize Nishino’s picture?
In the end, the cold case didn’t tie in as neatly as I would have liked, and resolved nothing. We assume it was the same situation, since the houses were positioned similarly, but it’s never outright confirmed.
MIO
How was Nishino
get help? She went to school everyday, so it’s not like she was being monitored or watched. Just what kind of power did Nishino wield? Was it more than the magical drug? Was he somehow able to mind-control people even when they were out of his sight?
His ability to control people, even without the drug, makes no sense, not unless it’s based in the supernatural… and yet, we’re given no real indication that it is. Not when people are constantly shown rebelling against him.
THE NEIGHBOR
She served no purpose. Was she meant to support the idea that supernatural stuff was actually going on? Is that why she was able to tell Koichi that Nishino was a monster who had no heart? Or was she just crazy? Either way, her death was silly and her existence served no purpose, other than to show the Takakuras that all their neighbors are creepy and unfriendly, and to use her as a convenient tool when it came to hiding the dead officer’s body.
THE POLICE
Like horror movies from the 80s, all of these cops were SO inept. Why would they go running into a serial killer's house without back-up, or without alerting others? Why would a trained officer, after falling into a trap, willingly grab the killer's hand to be pulled out? Did he honestly think he was there to save him lol? And why would the police believe the word of some creepy nobody over an experienced ex-detective/professor? Every scene they were in was silly and pointless and didn't contribute to the plot at all.
THE ENDING
WHY? Why would Nishino try to kill Max after going on and on about how much he liked dogs? And when he decided to kill it, why have Koichi do it instead of Yasuko? It’s clear Koichi isn’t completely under his control yet, since he was still handcuffed to the car. Why take such a risk? Did he just have an overinflated sense of worth? Was his ego too big for his own good? And how did he survive as long as he did as a killer, when he was so terrible at it lol? This ending was just stupid, and I have no idea why they worked so hard to establish this new “family” when it was destroyed before it could even be properly formed.
THE MESSAGE
I have no idea what message this movie was trying to convey…??
Don’t be nice to your neighbors if they act creepy. Be a recluse, it’s safer. Don’t do drugs - they're bad. Families are forged IN blood not BY blood. Get a dog, it may inadvertently save your life.
I have no clue. Shouldn't we walk away with something?
With so much potential and build-up, I was honestly upset that they dropped the ball so hard. It’s as if the writer and director were so focused on their vision of that final scene, they forgot that everything leading up to it needed to make sense as well.
The only people I would recommend this film to are fans of the director or fans of these actors. For those who like mysteries, detective stories, or serial killer thrillers… I’d encourage you to look elsewhere. There are so many better films out there in this genre that deserve a watch.
Frankly, I don't understand the amount of praise this one has garnered. Sure, it has moments that are creepy, but so do a TON of other films. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something...
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