It’s hard to believe that Yamashita has two other films at Fantasia 2024, and it’s even harder to believe that Confession is one of those films considering what the other two are. One’s a Gkids Anime entitled Ghost Cat Anzu. The other is a light coming of age picture: Swimming in a Sand Pool.
Confession is nothing like those. Confession is a taut, one-location thriller movie about two men stranded atop a mountain. They’re forced to seek shelter in the midst of a brutal storm. One, Jiyong (Yang Ik-june), is a man with a dark secret. Sixteen years prior, he killed Sayuri (Nao), who was Asai’s (Toma Ikuta) girlfriend on a hiking trip. Confidentially, Asai is the other man stranded with. Jiyong, in a pique of madness and convinced of his imminent peril, reveal his checkered past. Unfortunately, his premonitions are wrong. He and Asai can excpect a guaranteed rescue if they can survive to the morning. If they can survive each other.
Not all of Confession works. There are a couple of frankly ludicrous turns; at one point, an audience member in my screening audibly yelled “oh, c’mon.” Moreover, Nao’s role is so underdeveloped it’s close to insulting. Yet, what does work, works really well. There’s a palpable tension that the film is working from, a bonkers second act, and what Yamashita does with pulling focus is genuinely whip smart on a couple of occasions. Is the film a masterpiece? Certainly not. They also don’t all have to be. I can envision that this will charm someone on a Friday night if the film ever gets a release in this neck of the woods. Sometimes, that’s more than enough.
- Rated: NR
- Genre: Mystery
- Release Date: 7/19/2024
- Directed by: Nobuhiro Yamashita
- Starring: Nao, Toma Ikuta, Yang Ik-june
- Written by: Ryo Takada, Shūji Yuki
- Studio: GAGA Corporation, Geek Sight
