Mina ni Ko Are (2023)

Anxiety as a genre, complicity as the message.

Shamelessly bizarre. And that’s why I love it. One of the reasons horror is my favorite genre is the fact there are no real limits in storytelling and presentation. You are only limited by your own imagination. With years of cinema, all stories have been told one way or another, so I truly believe now it’s less about what you say, but how you say it. And Best Regards to All goes with a bang. Full of uneasy shots that make you want to look away, but also glue your eyes to the screen - not relying on cheap jumpscares. It’s less about feeling scared, and more about feeling anxious and uncomfortable.

With all that creepiness, it still presents a rather solid, yet horrifying message of generational and social exploitation with a grim outlook on life and happiness. But what’s most important - how much suffering of others we can ignore to keep the illusion of normalcy and peacefulness in our own life. Especially relevant in the current global climate. If you came out of this movie assuming you are not part of the problem, you are in denial.

Be it visually or in terms of themes presented, it’s frustrating, unnerving and uncomfortable to watch. Yes, I am perfectly aware I keep overusing the word “uncomfortable”, but that’s the perfect word to describe the movie. It makes you confront things you rather ignore.

For the acting, Furukawa Kotone ate the role. The whole slow and painful journey to self-realization was presented in a perfect manner. The will to fight what she thought to be unjust tradition, the denial of what’s truly going on, the fear of creeping consequences, the resignation when faced with what she thought in unreasonable pushback. From opening to closing shot - perfect.

In terms of production and directing, some practical make up could have been better, especially around the eyes - it would not work in reality as they presented on screen and somehow I could not let that thought go. Except for that tiny detail, it was great - the blood and wounds looked real and that’s all one can ask for from horror movies. I also appreciated well placed and timed repetitiveness of the shots in different time points and contexts.

Overall, it’s just my type of fucked up shit.

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Bizarre, reminds you of 'Midsommar'

Watched during our scary movies month, the acting in this is great. I hope to see the FL in many more!!
The filming and scenes are well done, I loved that old house and the fields. Well-done and recommend watching and leans towards how Midsommar left me feeling. Twists are good, very weird! /posi

The audio is also pretty decent for the gore sounds, you can see the care put into it which is refreshing in this genre. Some things were disturbing, some made us laugh, the ending makes sense and I don't want to spoil anything and let everyone go in with fresh eyes if possible.

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