Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: Four, apparent, strangers become stuck in an elevator as their secret connection to one another is revealed.
Review: I want you to imagine the movie "Devil." Okay, now imagine it not sucking, no fucking toast flipping bullshit, and being a mystery instead of a horror. SHYAMALAN! Lame jokes aside, this film is an extremely rare thing as it blends many genres seamlessly with a great final twist to leave you satisfied. One minute you may be laughing at the goofball nature of the characters and scenarios only to be shocked seconds later. Although there is a heavy comedic element, it's not intended to be laugh out loud levels of funny but more Murphy's law situations. The pacing can feel a bit slow at times, but the payoff is definitely worth it. Some viewers may not even know what to make of this film, given its decidedly Japanese style, but who doesn't like a good mystery?
Typically, this is where I would spoil aspects of the story for you, but I'll refrain from that this time. This really is one of those movies you should go into blind so as not to have assumptions regarding the various twists. You may predict a few of the twists anyway, but I highly doubt you will see the final revelation coming. The story introduces flashbacks that go back further and further each time until everything falls into place quite nicely. I will, however, mention that the way the mystery is unraveled is fantastic with one surprise after another. You may think you have things figured out but the devil is in the details (see what I did there?). Much of this presentation is assisted by the actors turning in believable performances and an effective use of the elevator for a setting. They actually pulled off a lot of crazy ideas and stunts for, what is, an otherwise low budget film--so I'll give credit where credit is due.
Despite my praise. this is far from a classic. There is a certain emptiness to the experience whereby I'm not really thinking about it afterward. Usually I would contemplate a movie like this, especially given the mysterious aspect to the plot, but it didn't have a deeper message to resonate with; well...unless you really loved that baseball metaphor. The mystery is well done and the twists are cool, but that's all there really was to it. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't hurt the film significantly--and others may appreciate it even more--but this shallowness prevents it from becoming a true classic. I would still wholeheartedly recommend checking this one out though; and definitely stay until the end of the credits for one last scene. Overall, many great ideas and an intriguing mystery but lacking that much needed layer of oomph to seal the deal.
Notable Moment: I don't want to spoil the context so I'll simply say: elevator rape porn. Of course that's a thing...this is Japan after all!
Final Rating: 6/10
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