Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: An artist fears for her life as she realizes she and others have dangerous doppelgangers on the loose.
Review: If there's one thing this movie has taught me it's that all it takes to marry a Japanese girl is to knock on her door. That's it?! And maybe dropping a book in front of her too. Moving along...this is another instance where any plot synopsis you read online will, more than likely, make this movie sound much different than it truly is. That can be both disappointing and a pleasant surprise depending on your outlook. "Bilocation" is closer to a fantasy-thriller than a true horror and transforms into a drama by the end. At first this bothered me, but I tried to appreciate the film for what it presents rather than what I had hoped it would be. Lastly, I want to acknowledge the main girl, Shinobu, played by Asami Mizukawa. She does an incredible job as both herself and the double. More so, you may recognize her from "The Locker" 1 and 2 plus "Dark Water." I've covered her a few times now, and we will be seeing more movies from her in the future.
What "Bilocation" does best, and quite successfully, is toy with the audience's perception regarding who is a double and who is the original in any given scene. The characters refer to their doubles as "bilocations," but they really are closer to a doppelganger and bilocation is more of a phenomenon than the thing itself. Is that making any sense? Onward we go! The characters use codes and mirrors to figure out who's who which adds to a few clever and unpredictable twists by the end. I almost feel like there are two movies being intertwined as the first half is about survival, and the second half is more about revelations and understanding. While I have discussed other movies in the past that fail to blend ideas coherently, "Bilocation" is able to reconcile the plot evenly. The characters are in danger at first until we realize more about what created the doubles in the first place and their goals. It's somewhat difficult to explain, but we are introduced to the different doubles in an order that enhances the twists of the story. In other words, we are shown generic, killer doubles at first only to realize that not everything is what it seems with the doubles and their originals. Needless to say, there are plenty of twists and turns that can be shocking and even tragic. There are two endings, and I can't say which one is supposed to be the true one. I will go with the "happy" ending since it would explain the character with the scar as it's greatly implied he was born from a double but not the original.
The film does falter quite a bit which I will address. The origin of the doubles felt as if there was a greater meaning to them, yet, they're simply created from a powerful emotion--a detachment from the original self during a single moment. This explanation felt a bit flimsy as if we must accept things readily in order to enjoy the events; I was waiting for the "why" when it was not important to the writer apparently. As mentioned, the running time is longer than necessary and many story aspects are unnecessarily confusing. Plenty of the twists are only unpredictable because the movie shows you the opposite of what they later explain as the truth. That's cheating and didn't even need to happen. For example, when Shinobu is first shown in the puddle at the start they could have simply angled things better so the audience didn't realize she wasn't there. You wouldn't even notice at that point in the story, and this would greatly add to replay value to find all the clues. Instead, it is cool to uncover the truth about the film's events, but things feel unearned when the filmmakers did not design the shots to better demonstrate the reality at hand.
All things considered, "Bilocation" is a surprisingly emotional film well worth your time. Although it is important to realize this isn't a conventional horror, it doesn't take away from the entertainment value. The mystery and reveal surrounding each of the characters is captivating and structured remarkably well. Furthermore, Shinobu is an impressive character especially once you fully understand the dynamic between her and the double. More to the point, I thoroughly loved this notion that the doubles could be a magnification of what the originals wanted of themselves. Although I do think the filmmakers cheat due to a lack of proper editing, I can mostly overlook the shortcomings. I do recommend checking this one out, but go with the ending where Shinobu doesn't fade away so to speak.
Notable Moment: Only one thing's true. I love you.
Final Rating: 6.5/10
5 comments:
I watched the movie and did not understand the ending. Then I read your review, and understood it even less. Can you explain the ending for (dull) me, please?
I'm not entirely sure what I could explain, but I did notice when trying to re-watch the ending that there was some other edit of the movie streaming. Maybe that's what you saw? In this ending the real Shinobu killed herself which made the doppelganger disappear from existence. However, in the cut I watched back in 2019, the doppelganger lived on because I believe she was pregnant. Meaning...earlier in the film they imply that if the doppelganger's life diverged so much from the original that it created life then it could live on independent of the original. That's what that scar-kid was supposed to be.
I hope this was the answer you're looking for, but, if not, I can do my best to fill in the blanks.
So turns out that the “bad” and “good” endings situation is very interesting.
When it premiered in Japanese theaters, there were two cuts, one referred to as “front” and another referred to as “back”
The front one is the one with the bad ending, and this cut was in theaters first, on January 18th 2014, the back cut which featured a few minutes of extra scenes at the end was first premiered on February 1st 2014, apparently some people were very upset about this bc KADOKAWA (the production company) never explained the differences between cuts, and when people went to watch both the front and the back (which were in theaters at the same time for a while) it turned out to be just a few minutes extra at the end, and it was ofc full price.
There are two bluray releases, Japan and Hong Kong, the Japan one seems to let you choose between front and back cuts, which it probably handles internally by having a different playlist file for each that either plays the extra scene at the end or not, the Hong Kong one (which I was able to find and download) has the “front” cut and then has the “back” cut ending in special features section in the menu, dubbed “alternate ending” which only played the last 13 min (credits included) of that cut, which is the same except the last couple of minutes before the credits, so I’m guessing this was a 4th wall breaking moment where the endings themselves are original and bilocation? Lol, honestly I think it’s pretty cool.
Also, the HK bluray only has one other extra, a trailer, but the Japanese bluray has a bunch of memorabilia and a bonus DVD with behind the scenes content and “unused footage”, really want to get my hands on it ngl
Wonder what streaming service has which ending and why they decided that one over the other, maybe the one where you watched the back ending had that cut bc it’s longer so they treat it as “directors cut” but it’s supposed to just be confusing like the movie
I’ll have to add this info on IMDb too bc no one seems to explain this there lol, this movie sure is obscure
Wow, thanks for clearing that up! We definitely needed more clarity on what was happening. I get that the two ending idea fits the theme of the movie, but it does feel like a huge gamble considering most people would probably never watch the movie again if they didn't like the ending!
Again, thanks for your input and certainly add that info to wherever you can to spread the word.
yeah i agree, but japan in especially japanese horror tends to be very experimental so even though it's unexpected it's not that surprising imo haha. And ofc will do! this movie was sooo good and had such a big impact for me, I think it's gonna stay with me forever
Post a Comment