Snow Woman

雪女

Directed by: Kiki Sugino
2016 / 96 minutes / Under 15s must be accompanied by an adult

Enigmatic and electrifying

Director Kiki Sugino puts a modern spin to this adaptation of the ancient Japanese folklore and ghost story Yuki-onna. Told with a non-linear storyline, Snow Woman is a slow, hypnotic film that plays out like a feverish dream sequence.

One wintry evening, deep in the woods, young hunter Minokichi (Munetaka Aoki) and his aging mentor Mosaku take refuge in an abandoned hut. Minokichi wakes up in the middle of the night and is terrified to find a ghostly yuki-onna (snow woman), who takes his mentor’s life with a single frosty breath to his face. The yuki-onna spares his life under the condition that he never tells a single soul.

One day, Minokichi comes across a mysterious woman, Yuki, who lost her way in the woods. Her uncanny resemblance to the yuki-onna is not lost on Minokichi, and neither is her captivating beauty. When Minokichi takes her to the village, word quickly spreads about the mysterious outsider. Despite the rumours and uncertainties surrounding Yuki’s identity, Minokichi only draws her in closer by proposing to marry her…