The Complex (film)

The Complex

Japanese poster for The Complex
Directed by Hideo Nakata
Produced by
  • Tadashi Tanaka
  • Masayuki Akieda
  • Takahiro Suematsu
  • Chiaki Noji
Written by
  • Junya Kato
  • Ryuta Miyake
Starring Atsuko Maeda
Hiroki Narimiya
Music by Kenji Kawai
Cinematography Junichiro Hayashi
Edited by Naoko Aono
Distributed by Shochiku
Release dates
  • January 27, 2013 (2013-01-27) (Rotterdam Film Festival)
  • May 18, 2013 (2013-05-18) (Japan)
Running time
 106 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese
Box office $8,738,992

The Complex (クロユリ団地 Kuroyuri danchi) is a 2013 Japanese horror film directed by Hideo Nakata.[1][2][3] The film premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival on January 1, 2013, and was released in Japan on May 18 that same year. A 12 episode drama, titled Kuroyuri Danchi ~Josho~ follows events leading up to those that take place in the film. It began airing in Japan on April 9, 2013.[4]

Plot

A young nursing student, Asuka Ninomiya (Atsuko Maeda) moves to a dilapidated apartment complex with her father, Isao (Masanobu Katsumura); mother, Sachiko (Naomi Nishida); and younger brother, Satoshi (Ruiki Sato). She tries to greet her elderly next door neighbor, Shinozaki (Masaya Takahashi), with little success, and befriends a local boy named Minoru Kinoshita (Kanau Tanaka), whose only guardian is Shinozaki.

Ever since her moving in, Asuka begins to experience strange things, including continuous scratching noises and a disturbing alarm clock, both of which come from Shinozaki's flat. She is also wary of her own family, who fail to understand her story while seemingly repeating their activities every day. Asuka later discovers that Shinozaki had died while scratching the wall, explaining the noises she heard every night. A detective (Taro Suwa) tells her that he had died for three days without anyone ever visiting him. Since then, Asuka feels that Shinozaki haunts her in anger for not finding him earlier. She is upset that her family continue to ignore her experiences, though is comforted by Minoru, who promises to be her friend.

When a cleanup team arrives to clean Shinozaki's flat, Asuka becomes acquainted with Shinobu Sasahara (Hiroki Narimiya), a cleaner with experiences in the supernatural who tells her that the living and the dead reside in two separate times: the living races through time, while the dead stops at the time they died. Asuka consults with Sasahara when Shinozaki haunts her and is told that he can contact a psychic friend of his. Returning home, Asuka is greeted by no one and becomes hysterical. Sasahara learns from Asuka's foster parents that Asuka's entire family had died from a bus accident years ago with Asuka as the only survivor; since then, Asuka has been blaming herself, refusing to turn a blind eye and move on. Sasahara invites his psychic friend, Sanae Nonomura (Satomi Tezuka), who concludes that Asuka is not haunted by Shinozaki, who only wants to say thank you for discovering him, but by Minoru, a boy living in the apartment 13 years ago when he died in a hide-and-seek game in which his body was incinerated inside a trash bin.

Asuka becomes withdrawn, refusing to move out even when Sasahara begs her to, and continues to play with Minoru. Sasahara and Nonomura force her to allow the latter conduct an exorcism to expel Minoru's spirit from inhabiting Asuka's damaged mind. Sasahara manages to have Asuka not let Minoru enter the flat even when the latter persuades her by projecting her family's last memories, but he himself is seduced by Minoru's projecting of his vegetative girlfriend, Hitomi Makimura (Megumi Sato) and accidentally lets Minoru in, killing Nonomura in the process. Asuka agrees to become Minoru's playmate in exchange for Sasahara's life, but Sasahara pulls Asuka out before she could proceed and gets himself thrown in a memory of Minoru's trash bin, where he is burned alive.

Asuka, found scratching and screaming at her flat floor, is taken back by her foster parents. Despite their insistence, Asuka continues to babble about her dead parents and brother while clutching her brother's doll.

Cast

Release

The Complex premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival on January 27, 2013.[5] It had its theatrical release in Japan on May 18, 2013.[5] The Complex debuted in first place at the Japanese Box Office grossing $1,486,523.[6] It remained at the top of the Japanese Box Office for two weeks.[6] The film has grossed a total of $8,738,992.[6]

Reception

Critical reception for the movie was mixed.[7][8] Screen Daily gave a positive review for The Complex, saying that it was an "impressively structured horror film that is likely to thrill audiences".[9] The Hollywood Reporter panned the film as a "disappointingly cliche-bound return to J-Horror inspires more giggles than shivers."[10]

References

  1. ↑ "FIRST NEWS, EXCLUSIVE COMMENT: HIDEO NAKATA'S "THE COMPLEX"". Fangoria. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "Nakata Hideo Returns To Classic Horror With THE COMPLEX". Twitch Film. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "First Look at Hideo Nakata's The Complex". Dread Central. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "Kuroyuri Danchi Trailer Released, Stars Maeda Atsuko". Japanverse. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  5. 1 2 Elley, Derek (February 24, 2013). "The Complex". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 "Kuroyuri Danchi (Complex)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Review: "The Complex"". Variety. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "IFFR 2013 Review: THE COMPLEX Gives A Decent Fright". Twitch Film. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  9. ↑ Mark Adams (2013-01-27). "The Complex". screendaily.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
  10. ↑ Neil Young (2013-01-26). "The Complex (Kuroyuri Danchi): Rotterdam Review". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
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