Noriko's Dinner Table

A Suicide Club-related film. Noriko's Dinner Table is set in the same universe, but it's still very much its own thing. Don't go into this expecting a straight-up prequel, but if you liked Sono's breakthrough film there's a considerable chance you won't be disappointed by this one. Just make sure you've got that extra 60 minutes to spare because it's a long one.

Noriko doesn't feel at home in her suburban family, so she decides to run away and move to Tokyo. She seeks out one of her online friends and becomes part of her "family circle", a little club of people who can be hired to pose as fake family members. Noriko convinces her sister to come and join her, but when her dad hears about the emergence of suicide clubs on the news, he travels to Tokyo to find his daughters.

Suicide Club was a pretty strange beast, Noriko's Dinner Table is too, but in different ways. It's a pretty fragmented film, following four people who each share their version of the events. It's also quite long and it has some bigger ups and downs. There are still some signature Sono moments, but there are some lulls too, and the climax comes a bit too early. Still, if you like Sono's madness, it's going to be worthy of your attention.