After teen friends find a mysterious box under the house of one of them, strange events lead Hibiki to believe they are all cursed. Seeing her sister's downfall, Mei must discover the truth before the curse gets to all of them.
Suicide Forest Village (2021), by the director of Ju-on, is one of those Japanese lore-intensive stories, heavy on folk elements and the basic ghost haunting premisse that we see on most Japanese stories - not a bad thing at all. This movie is good enough to keep us hooked, though, Western audience might feel the heavy hit of drama-related Eastern acting; they do tend to repeat each others name often, apparently.
One a few occasions, I felt as if I was missing bits of the plot. At one point, one of the characters gets hurt, but that apparently happens offscreen, or editors removed the scene, and the result is a confusing setup, regardless of it being linear.
The horror elements are light on this movie. Don't wait for the sinister haunting of crawling-shoked Kayako; in Suicide Forest Village, the ghost presence is subtle, but effective.
The finale is heavy on folklore, which could diminish its effectiveness. The story does not explain any rules, leaving us with a heavy drama scene that feels Ex-Machina. It kinda works, but I'd want more explanations as to WTH is going on.
There is one post-credit scene that was nice. Hopefully, Suicide Forest Village enables a sequel.
I'd recommend this movie for fans of East-oriented horror. If you are too mainstrem, skip this entry.
