The opening scene of this movie is over-the-top and sets the tone for the rest of the flick. Confusing, surreal, and bloody.
Alice in Wonderland? Alice in Hell may be a better description.
We are thrown in to a nightmare reality from the very beginning, or is it?
The soundtrack has a great Americanized feel. Sometimes, it doesn’t seem to go with the scene, however, it may be used as a leverage to change moods quickly. Eerie samples straight out of the Walking Dead theme song (seriously. I mean, the Walking Dead used the same samples probably from a royalty free CD and didn’t expect anyone else to ever use it after their huge popularity. They were wrong, it is used over and over in this to the point that you get sick of it).
“This is absurd”. – we exclaim almost in unison 10 minutes in
“All Girls High School” is where the main character, Mitsuko, finds herself after a horrible somewhat paranormal murder scene opens the movie. Of course they are wearing the required school uniforms with super short skirts and white underwear showing but something strange is going on. Mitsuko is very confused and the girls begin to tease her and state that she has amnesia. Her 3 friends join her in other bizarre adventures as each story unfolds.
Throughout the movie, you will notice that one of the themes is an all woman cast. This continues until the very end of the movie when a needed shift in the story occurs.
What do the girls learn at school? Cutting class is serious!
# Pillow fight scenes with loose feathers and slow motion – 3
# Women in Lingerie – 2
# Pig face man – 1
# Bizarre mirrors – 2
# Marilyn Monroe reenactment of wind up the skirt – 1
Is Mitsuko the teen in a nightmare? Or is Keiko at 25 her real name? Maybe she is Izumi?
Her friend Aki says she is both.
One half of the street has snow and the other doesn’t. What is up with halves. People in half. Light poles in half. Is she 1/2 the girl she thinks she is? Who is her other half when she looks in the mirror?
We are told that Mitsuko is “reborn”.
Something is wrong. Surreal. Alternate reality, multiple universes. Rip in time. You decide.
(at this point I feel like I am reading a choose your own adventure YA book from the 80s)
“the lake stinks of methane” (one girl talking about skipping school to go to the lake which earlier was referred to as a river)
Considering that methane doesn’t smell, I am not for sure if this is a ‘lost in translation’ line or if it is has a deeper meaning to the story.
I would definitely recommend this although the ending was not very satisfying to me. I am used to Asian horror not having an ending, resolve, or completion at the end so I was a bit shocked that there was an ending and explanation to the story.
Trigger Alert:
Triggers: You should not watch this movie if you are sensitive to any of the following: school shootings, sexualized school uniform girls, assassination, bombing, extreme blood and gore, and multiple personality disorder.
Tag (2015)