Dark Water

Japan 2002, 101 minutes
Dir. Hideo Nakata
In Japanese with English subtitles
Rating: [M]
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Horror / Paranorma

Feat. Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno

Aroview: Running rings around the RING films in unsettling atmosphere, rich subtext and jump-in-your-seat moments, this creepy fable of urban isolation triumphantly confirms dir. Nakata's status as the master of "J-Horror".

A mother and her young daughter move into a small apartment, but discover a mysterious and persistent leak in the ceiling - which in combination with the local urban myth of a murdered child, allows a certain paranoia to permeate their lives, connected to their own personal vulnerabilites and fears. Slow-building, dreamlike and brilliantly filmed in subdued colours, this evokes the anonymous terrors of the bland city sprawl like no other.

NZ International Film Festival 2002