Cure

The only word to describe this movie is mesmerizing. Like doing a puzzle without ever seeing the picture. From the sheer beauty that is its visual construction to its eerie plot, this is a movie that hooks you in and slowly drags you down, like a fish slowly being reeled in to its demise. It’s such a terrifying depiction of psychopathy that makes you wonder whether or not Kurosawa is one himself. Whenever you think you finally understand the movie, it pivots, leaving both you and Takabe in the dust. It’s just so well constructed in every sense of the word, in such a way that the only other movies I can think of like it are The Thing and Perfect Blue, leaving you with a similar sinking feeling in your gut. Like those two, this film ends without giving you any concrete answers, which I find is a testament to how restrained this movie is. It holds you at arms length, most noticeably through shot composition, and forces you to watch the downward spiral unfold. I genuinely cannot put into words how this movie makes me feel other than relating it to I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull by Swans, a song(?) that I think elicits the same sort of feeling upon first listen. The acting is phenomenal and so damn captivating, especially with Masato Hagiwara as he hunts his hunter. I cannot recommend this movie enough to anyone interested in a crime thriller/horror. My heebies were jeebied. 5/5: NOOOOO MONKEY NOOOO PLEASE NO HES SO CUTE LET HIM GO PLEASE