Manhole’ Movie Review: High-Concept J-Horror Films Welcome

What happens in the well stays in the well. This is how to describe the at first intriguing and increasingly outrageous Japanese horror film, in which pop star Hiroto Nakajima fell into a classic film trap on the eve of his wedding and managed to escape. 

 Directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Sketch of Kaitan City) and written by Michitaka Okada (Masquerade Hotel), the film makes the most of its setting and slices the main character. While building dozens of obstacles to keep tensions high, they’ve been beaten, announced on social media, and poisoned with toxic sewage in an attempt to escape. But almost halfway through, #Manhole more or less jumps the hook. Or is it a manhole? – With so many twists, it veers into a harrowing parody. 

The film premieres in Berlin’s Panorama section, featuring actors, models, and Japanese platinum boy band Say Hey! JUMP’s cute face is messed up. International interest will likely be limited to the wider world of midnight madness screenings and streaming.

The hashtag in front of the movie title is a clue to what #Manhole is: A containment thriller (think Buried in Tokyo), part social media satire. You can be underground with just a phone, a pencil case, and a fairly reliable cellular network to keep you connected. 

This is part of a construction site that appears to be abandoned after Shunsuke Kawamura, a successful real estate agent who is about to marry his boss’ daughter, spends a night drinking with his office buddies. It’s something you get after coming across a . His bizarre behavior, including his not calling the police right away, gives us some clues that will resurface later. 

 With his whereabouts unclear and the police helpless, Shunsuke calls his ex-girlfriend first. She is also conveniently a registered nurse. He then set up an account for his avatar online called “Manhole Girl” on his Twitter (renamed Pecker in the movie, LOL), hoping some perverted insomniac would come to his aid. . This overwhelms the on-screen messages and titles that overwhelm the second half of the film, losing sight of the minimalist conceit of plunging into quirky plots and tons of gore. 

 The film premieres in Berlin’s Panorama section, featuring actors, models and Japanese Platinum His Boys His band Say Hey! JUMP’s cute face is messed up. International interest will likely be limited to the wider world of midnight madness screenings and streaming.

The hashtag in front of the movie title is a clue to what #Manhole is: A containment thriller (think Buried in Tokyo), part social media satire. You can be underground with just a phone, a pencil case, and a fairly reliable cellular network to keep you connected. 

This is Shunsuke Kawamura, a successful real estate agent about to marry his boss’s daughter, spends a night drinking with his office mates, then stumbles upon a pit, part of a seemingly abandoned construction site. His bizarre behavior, including his failure to call the police immediately, gives us some clues that will resurface later. 

With his whereabouts unclear and the police helpless, Shunsuke calls his ex-girlfriend first. She is also conveniently a registered nurse. He then sets up an online avatar account called “Manhole Girl” on Twitter (renamed Pecker in the movie, LOL) in the hope that some perverted insomniac will come to his aid. This overwhelms the on-screen messages and titles that overwhelm the second half of the film, losing sight of the minimalist conceit of plunging into quirky plots and tons of gore.

Manhole Movie details

THE BOTTOM LINE

Not your ordinary manhole.

Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Panorama)

Cast: Yuto Nakajima, Kento Nagayama

Director: Kazuyoshi Kumakiri

Screenwriter: Michitaka Okada

1 hour 39 minutes