Presented by Japan Foundation
Confession
Directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita
Director
Nobuhiro Yamashita
Writer
Shuji Yuki, Ryo Takada
Cast
Toma Ikuta, Yang Ik-june, Nao
contact
GAGA Corporation
Official website
Two old college pals, Asai (Toma Ikuta of THE MOLE SONG trilogy) and Jiyong (Yang Ik-june, BREATHLESS), make their annual pilgrimage up a mountain in the middle of winter in honour of their friend Sayuri (Nao, MY BROKEN MARIKO) who disappeared there 16 years earlier. However, Jiyong seriously injures his leg in the middle of a violent blizzard. Overcome by cold and pain, he asks Asai to let him die here and save his own life. First, though, he confesses to a horrible secret that has been eating away at him. He was the one who killed Sayuri that fateful day, out of jealousy. The problem, if there is one, is that Asai finds a cabin nearby that they hadn’t seen because of the blinding storm. Once inside, the murderer's confession takes on a whole new dimension, and let's just say that the elephant in the room is more of a mammoth. To say that it's going to be a long night would be an understatement.
Versatile director Nobuhiro Yamashita (LA LA LA AT ROCK BOTTOM, Best Screenplay Award at Fantasia 2015) takes centre stage this year with three Fantasia selections, which also include the Cannes-selected anime GHOST CAT ANZU and the superb coming-of-age tale SWIMMING IN A SAND POOL. However, the horrific psychological thriller CONFESSION is the director's purest foray into genre filmmaking. With an awe-inspiring visual narrative and hallucinatory direction that takes advantage of every inch of the location, he creates a fascinating descent into hell, full of surprises. The acting duel between Toma Ikuta and Yang Ik-june is breathtaking in its intensity and has nothing to envy of the great classics of the closed-set genre, such as Giuseppe Tornatore's UNE PURE FORMALITÉ. This captivating adaptation of the manga by Nobuyuki Fukumoto and Kaiji Kawaguchi is the kind of film experience that must be seen on the big screen with the best audience on the planet. – Translation: Rupert Bottenberg
Showings
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Don't Call it Mystery
Hiroaki Matsuyama
In this compelling whodunit adapted from a popular manga, college student Totonou, known for his sharp observation skills, becomes entangled in a complicated family feud involving mysterious deaths.
The G
Karl R. Hearne
Abused and deprived by a corrupt legal guardian and an uncaring system, an elderly woman sets out for payback. A dark revenge thriller with a very unconventional protagonist.
Haze
Matthew Fifer
A young man returns home after rehab and uncovers the secrets of his town's abandoned psychiatric centre in this haunting queer horror drama that explores deeply rooted trauma.