Shimato is the quintessential meek and unimpressive Japanese family man. His home life is in tatters: his daughter from a previous marriage is a petty criminal and his wife hates her. And him.
Called to a pet-shop his daughter has been caught stealing from, a larger than life, eccentric businessman arrives and saves the day. Not only does he relieve the daughter of her charges, he offers her a job AND a place to stay. Things are looking up for Shimato, until he finds out what we already know.
Yes, the businessman and his cackling, nymphomaniac wife are serial killers. This is not a spoiler and is revealed early on. Shimato first becomes only more obsequious, and you wonder how far he will go.
The movie has some surprising developments in the final act. The problem is the middle. The movie is at least half an hour too long, and seriously loses its way in the second act. When I got to the end, though, I was glad I'd stuck it out. This is actually kind of a hopeless, elegiac movie, like a hymn to Japanese society, not where there are people like serial killers - who are extremely rare anywhere - but that there are people like Shimato, in his situation, abused and exploited by everyone.
Called to a pet-shop his daughter has been caught stealing from, a larger than life, eccentric businessman arrives and saves the day. Not only does he relieve the daughter of her charges, he offers her a job AND a place to stay. Things are looking up for Shimato, until he finds out what we already know.
Yes, the businessman and his cackling, nymphomaniac wife are serial killers. This is not a spoiler and is revealed early on. Shimato first becomes only more obsequious, and you wonder how far he will go.
The movie has some surprising developments in the final act. The problem is the middle. The movie is at least half an hour too long, and seriously loses its way in the second act. When I got to the end, though, I was glad I'd stuck it out. This is actually kind of a hopeless, elegiac movie, like a hymn to Japanese society, not where there are people like serial killers - who are extremely rare anywhere - but that there are people like Shimato, in his situation, abused and exploited by everyone.