Horror

Immersion

忌怪島

Directed by: Takashi Shimizu
2023 / 108 minutes / Unclassified 15+

The looming curse of an old grudge dyes an island in red

Genius neuroscientist Tomohiko Kataoka (Daigo Nishihata) relocates to a secluded island to join ‘Shinsekai’, a research team studying the connections between virtual reality technology and neuroscience. However, things take a dark turn when the VR duplicate of the island created by the team flags an eerie glitch in the shape of a mysterious woman in red. When violent drowning deaths start to occur, the island’s deeply rooted shamanic superstitions seem to be the only key to uncovering a terrifying curse claiming lives from beneath the ocean surface.   

Directed by Takashi Shimizu, the brain behind J-horror masterpieces such as Ju-On and Marebito, Immersion is an intriguing dive into the dichotomy between technology and tradition, a recurring theme in Japanese cinematic storytelling. Shimizu cleverly ventures into the uncharted waters of virtual reality horror and blends it with the Japanese leitmotif of the female vengeful spirit, while a macabre shamisen soundtrack marks the time until the next victim is consumed by grudgeful waves from a parallel dimension.

Post-Film Talk Event

Takashi Shimizu’s Archaeology of Millennial Japanese Horror: Immersion in J-Horror’s folkloric pasts and techno-futures

Takashi Shimizu’s latest film Immersion sees one of the founding fathers of millennial J-Horror riff on the genre in self-aware ways. Dr Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT University) will discuss how the film’s VR-powered spectral curse refracts how J-Horror’s distinctive melange of traditional haunts and techno-horrors has progressed since the launch of Shimizu’s influential Ju-on: The Grudge at the cusp of the 21st century.

Details

Venue: The Kino, Melbourne
Date: 29 October, 2023 (Sun)
Screening: 15:30 – 17:20
Talk: 17:20 – 17:50