Winner of the Grand Prize at the Japan Horror Film Competition as a short film, Ryota Kondo‘s debut feature “Missing Child Videotape” might sound like another “Ringu” copycat, but is actually quite unique in its presentation of horror. Let us take things from the beginning though.
Missing Child Videotape is screening at Tokyo International Film Festival
The story takes place in 2015, although one could say a part is also occurring much before that. Keita is a young man living a quiet life working in a supermarket and sharing an apartment with Tsutaka, a school teacher. Both of them, however, have their secrets and their issues. Keita is still feeling guilt from being the one present when his younger brother disappeared 13 years ago, and still goes to the woods where the whole thing happened on occasion, to search for him.
It is in one of those ‘excursions’ that he finds another missing boy, thus bringing TV news interest to himself. It is then that Mikoto, a reporter from a local newspaper, makes the connection between the two incidents and begins a rather insisting effort to interview Keita. Instead, she repeatedly meets Tsutaka, who soon admits to her that he can see ghosts, in the most nonchalant fashion. A bit later on, Keita receives a VHS tape from his mother, which has a recording of the day his little brother disappeared. Angry and perplexed, Keita decides to visit his mother in the village by the woods he grew up with, and soon Tsutaka and Mikoto also head the same way.
Check also this interview
Although completely stripped from any usual tactics of the J-horror (jump scares, the presence of creatures, intense SFX), Ryota Kondo still manages to present here a movie that is rather chilling, through a number of ways that are quite smart and unique. For starters, there is a permeating sense of weirdness about the time and place of the movie, since the way Tsukasa admits to someone he barely knows and the fact that Keita seems to have known for quite some time that he can see ghosts, makes the whole thing appear as if taking place into an alternate, even dystopian reality. Kota Matsuda’s cinematography definitely helps with that, with the way he uses the light and shadows, and the grayish and desaturated tones that dominate here, essentially dictating the aforementioned sense.
The relationship of the boys also seems enigmatic, with the way they have opened up to each other not being exactly common among the Japanese, while the later appearance of another, equally weird young man, Tetsuya, adds even more to this sense.
The tape itself, with its low quality, is another enigma here, which is dealt with, however in rather unusually realistic fashion, as the two young men are having trouble finding a player for it in the beginning. Watching it creates more questions than it answers, but also adds to the atmosphere of chilliness and disorientation, while incorporating yet another level to the story, which is repeatedly, and quite impactfully implemented throughout the movie. This approach, of more questions being constantly made in a story that eventually starts to unfold as a detective one, and the fact that Kondo does not seem particularly eager to answer them, is one of the most intriguing aspects of the whole film, actually allowing the script to move beyond any kind of cliche.
Also interesting is the way Kondo makes his various social comments. Grief and trauma, and how they shape people and families is one of the main topics here but is definitely not the only. Friendship and its value, living in small societies that do not allow people to escape their reality, and even the current world of journalism are commented upon, adding significantly to the context and the overall atmosphere of the movie. The ending is as ambiguous as the whole film and will definitely leave the viewer with a sense of unfairness, but also works quite well here, actually fitting the story to perfection.
The acting is on a very high level. Rairu Sugita continues to impress after “Sanka” with another imposing performance, with the moments he loses his temper being the highlights of his performance. Amon Hirai as Tsutaka presents the enigma of his character in captivating fashion, through a demeanor that appears ever cool, until the moment it wonderfully doesn’t. Kokoro Morita as Mikoto presents the sole voice of ‘normalcy’ in the movie, in a way that completes the trio of protagonists rather nicely. Lastly, Takashi Fujii as Tetsuya steals the show with the way he presents his ‘weirdness’ particularly in the scene where he explains the reasons behind his attitude.
“Missing Child Videotape” is a triumph of minimalism that also seems to extend in the budget of the movie, and a masterclass on how you can build an atmosphere of horror without using any ‘tricks’. Ryota Kondo seems like a voice we will be hearing much about in the future.
