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On this page: ALL YOU NEED IS KILL | SCARE OUT

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 18.Feb.26

All You Need Is Kill
Review by Rich Cline | 5/5

MUST SEE

dir Kenichiro Akimoto
scr Yuichiro Kido
prd Eiko Tanaka, Noriko Dohi, Keita Kodama, Atsushi Hasegawa, Emi Kashimura, Fumihiro Ozawa
voices Ai Mikami, Natsuki Hanae, Kana Hanazawa, Hiccorohee, Mo-Junior High School, Hayato Fujii
English voices Stephanie Sheh, Jadon Muniz, Lisa Kay Jennings, Cherami Leigh, Jonny Cruz, Dave Fennoy
release Jpn 9.Jan.26,
US 16.Jan.26, UK 13.Feb.26
25/Japan 1h26

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Beautifully animated in a lush, offbeat style, this anime alien-invasion thriller shares its source novel with the Tom Cruise hit Edge of Tomorrow. But this is a very different film, with a more introspective approach and more extravagantly colourful imagery. Filmmaker Kenichiro Akimoto has created an unusually immersive film that quickly gets under the skin, and the riveting storytelling puts us right in the middle of the action.

It's been a year since the gigantic tree-like alien Darol took root on Earth. Working on the team trying to bring it down, young soldier Rita (Mikami) is shocked when it emits flowers that kill everyone. But Rita wakes up again that morning, over and over again, giving her the chance to change her behaviour. Still, she can't outrun her own death, always returning to her morning alarm clock. So she begins using each day to learn more about Darol's true nature. And as she approaches her 100th rerun, she discovers that she's not alone.

It's instantly easy to sympathise with Rita, an outsider who struggles to get anyone to take her seriously. Her determination is almost startlingly inspiring, a person with below-average motivation rising to the challenge in such an impressive way. She keeps track of her lives by writing a number on the back of her hand, and as this number grows and grows she knows she will need to enlist help among the colleagues who belittle her. So it's thrilling when she meets the nerdy Keiji (Hanae), who is sharing her experience, and they begin working together.

This is visceral filmmaking that packs a wide range of breathtaking visuals and unusually complex characters into a brief running time. The design work is remarkably cinematic, even in the quieter scenes. Exhilarating, increasingly epic action sequences draw on the personalities of these plucky young people who help each other overcome their shy, selfish, cowardly natures to find a way through this situation.

"Death is on my side," Rita says, knowing each one will provide another lesson. This offers a striking counterpoint to her frustrated suicide attempt, which in turn reminds her of her troubled childhood. What Keiji helps Rita realise is that if she can change herself, she can change the world. And the story holds us tightly right to its twisty, staggeringly intense climax, which is completed with a gorgeously nuanced, moving final kick.

themes, language, violence 5.Feb.26

Scare Out
Review by Rich Cline | 3/5

dir Zhang Yimou
scr Chen Liang, Zhang Yimou
prd Zhou Jianlei, Liu Weile, Yin Hao, Bai Anwei
with Jackson Yee, Zhu Yilong, Song Jia, Yang Mi, Lei Jiayin, Liu Shishi, Zhang Yi, Liu Yaowen, Lin Boyang, Daniel Manwaring, Pan Binlong, Nathaniel Boyd
release US/UK 20.Feb.26
26/China Alibaba 1h44

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This pulsating high-tech thriller is a first from China, following a counter-espionage agency around modern-day Beijing. Veteran filmmaker Zhang Yimou keeps the cameras swooping through gleaming locations amid rapid-fire dialog and choppy editing that makes it very tricky to keep up with in subtitles. The tone is tense and intriguing, while the personal drama is more involving than the spycraft, even though it drifts occasionally into melodrama.

When his team is ambushed by tech-savvy baddies, Yan (Yee) is sifting through evidence when new leader Zhao (Song) takes over, launching Operation Scare Out. But she has a secret agenda to unearth a double agent, and her strategy is to make Yan and his deputy Huang (Zhu) begin to suspect each other. Sure enough, Huang is caught between his pregnant wife Xiaoyu (Liu Shishi) and his femme fatale mistress Bai Fan (Yang). And Bai Fan is in the thick of it, working with the nervous informant Li (Lei) to help him escape the country.

Drones, surveillance cameras, self-driving cars and facial recognition are deployed throughout the film, keeping an eye on people from all angles while glassy reflections reveal colourful lighting and cool architecture. So the film looks sharp, even if connections between people are badly blurred. The script strains to build intrigue without properly defining situations, only grabbing hold as it finds some enjoyable complexities in loyalties and relationships. And there are plenty of surprise revelations in the final reel.

Because he's so badly conflicted, Huang engages the audience as he struggles with choosing the right path through tricky situations. Zhu nicely adds an emotional undercurrent to the role that pulls us in. Meanwhile in the stoic-hero role, Yee's more straight-arrow Yan watches Huang like a hawk. The close friendship between them is the film's most magnetic element, because these two men want to support each other even against the system. And they both hold secrets.

New wrinkles continually shift the narrative, raising questions and deepening the multi-faceted mystery as Yan and Huang try to solve their case while Zhao works to catch the mole. Even with various plot twists, this never feels like a particularly big mystery, perhaps because the stakes are never quite clear. Rather it's about the connections between colleagues and cohorts who have to work both with and against each other. So even after some overwrought emotion along the way, there's a hushed thoughtfulness in where the story goes.

themes, language, violence 16.Feb.26

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