Japan
2018 116 mins OV Japanese Subtitles : English
Official selection
Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival 2018
Somewhere in Japan, a body has been discovered. A dead body, found by a hot spring in a scenic winter setting. And then another, in the same place. Both victims died rather unusually of hydrogen sulphide poisoning, so the police consult geochemistry professor Shusuke Aoe (Sho Sakurai, star of Miike's YATTERMAN) to see if it could possibly be murder. As such a thing could only happen if the killer had precise knowledge of all of the surrounding geological conditions in the area, it's a pretty far-fetched notion, until Aoe meets Madoka Uhara (Suzu Hirose), who happen to possess such knowledge. This will lead the professor and the police down an unexpected path, into a world where the supernatural, the mystical and our reality meet, and a battle between life, death and the realms that exists beyond them both.
For as long as there has been a Fantasia, there have been Takashi Miike movies (and Miike himself in 2016). We've screened Miike movies at every Fantasia but two, and it truly warms our heart to bring his new films to Montreal audiences on an annual basis, so we're especially excited to offer the North American Premiere of LAPLACE'S WITCH at Fantasia 2018. It's been interesting to see Miike's transition over the years from the enfant terrible of Asian cinema to respected international auteur to one of Japan's most successful commercial filmmakers, and still not lose his individuality, and LAPLACE'S WITCH is an excellent example of that. Based on the best-selling novel by Keigo Higashino, it's a not just a murder mystery because in Miike's hands it's also an otherworldly journey into the unknown, and only Miike could take such a balance and make it work as well as it does. It's also a damn entertaining piece of polished, commercial filmmaking (nothing wrong with that when it's done right) and a satisfying night of Fantasia moviegoing, Miike style. Longtime fans (and new ones) will no be disappointed. - Matthew Kiernan
