2024 / 45m - Japan
Horror
3.5*/5.0*
Chime poster

Plot: Matsuoka is a talented chef who gives classes to amateur cooks wanting to better their game. One of his students is Tashiro, a recluse guy who has trouble focusing. One day he confesses to hearing strange noises, he puts a knife to his head and kills himself. Matsuoka is shaken, even more so when he starts hearing a distressing sound.

Watches

June 15, 2024

3.5*/5.0*

Chime feels like an addendum to Foreboding and Before We Vanish, but slightly better because of the shorter runtime and nicer production values. Not that the film is very explicit or maximalist in its presentation, it's very much a less-is-more horror, it just feels a bit more polished and overall detailed .

The cinematography is clean, the performances are solid and Kurosawa builds up the tension really well. It's been quite a while since he's released a more straight-forward horror film, but he still has it in him. The ending is a little puzzling, but that's clearly by design. I liked this a lot better than I thought I would, this was one of Kurosawa's better films in ages.