Friday's Film - Confessions

Confessions

original title: kokuharu

country: Japan

genre: thriller, horror, drama, mystery

To my very big surprise this movie is directed by Tetsuya Nakashima (the director of Kamikaze girls). But don't expect any frills. This is a psychological thriller, close to horror that really messes with your mind.

A grieving school teacher decides to get revenge on the students that murdered her young daughter. It's dark, it's horrible, it's disturbing, but most of all it's brilliant. This movie shows the effects of psychology and manipulation in a way that's almost grotesque. How one little sentence can start a chain reaction so big it changes every persons life forever.

Confessions is a series of confessions, by every involved person who each add a piece to the puzzle. At first glance you know who to feel sorry for and who to hate, but as the story develops the line gets blurry and in the end it's hard to tell who's evil and who's the victim.

The acting was so convincing for a moment I actually doubted it was a Japanese production I was watching. And the filming was just the way I love it with effective slow motion scenes and a magical way of lighting them.