「シューフンの SNS 見て。ちょっと心配で。」
“I got worried after seeing Shufen’s post.”

Riko (Yukino Kaizu), 25, a receptionist at a trendy salon in the city,, lives a quiet life in the city, sharing an apartment with her friend Airi. One day, Riko notices eerie changes in the social media posts of her Taiwanese friend Shufen, who starts uploading cryptic videos. Around the same time, a disfigured corpse washes ashore in Taiwan. When Riko’s attempts to contact Shufen fail, she teams up with her ex-boyfriend Jiahao to investigate, only to discover that Shufen died six months ago. However, her social media continues to post disturbing messages. Soon, supernatural occurrences plague Riko and Airi, leading to Airi’s horrifying death. Desperate for answers, Riko heads to Taiwan with Jiahao and Shufen’s sister Huijun to uncover the terrifying truth.

With The Curse (ザ・カース), Kenichi Ugana delivers a film that mixes horror and mystery, with a touch of comedy, and a journey that will take you from Japan to the depths of Taiwan.

Good Entertainment

Kenichi Ugana is one of my favorite directors. His films are entertaining, twisted, and generally very original. He is one of the few directors who manage to win me over by making entertainment cinema. And he always likes to add a little touch of bodily fluids dripping to perfection.

The Curse is no exception. From the very first scene, we witness what we want. A woman is hit by a truck and is dragged on the pavement, stuck between the tire and the bodywork, until her neck gives way and her body ends up on the road. The atmosphere is set. It will be bloody and frightening.

The first third of the film offers a frankly successful horror movie atmosphere. We’re glued to the back of our seats and we don’t let our feet dangle. But afterwards, the film transforms more into a kind of investigation only to end as a horror-comedy genre. This is probably the film’s main weakness. The horror atmosphere is so good at the beginning that deviating towards another genre is disappointing. I would have really preferred the director to continue in that mood.

But in the end, it remains entertaining, and the investigation part in Taiwan is poignant. And the ending is surprising, which is always good too.

Too Many Incongruities

What bothered me in this new feature film by Kenichi Ugana is that there are too many things that seem to have been forgotten along the way. For example, the woman who dies at the beginning, who is she? Why do we witness her death? The scene is really cool. But what is its purpose?

I obviously won’t spoil the final punchline, but one of the characters seems to have been simply forgotten during that scene. She is there, and for some reason X, she seems to no longer be taken into account. Not dead, not gone, but we don’t see her anymore.

Throughout the film, there are little things like that that aren’t entirely… complete. Despite the fact that the scenes are always enjoyable and entertaining, we are left with a feeling of something missing. Something doesn’t totally work…

A little more…

The Japanese director is a master in creating films with small budgets. This one is no exception. And let’s be clear, the pleasure is there and I strongly advise you to go see it. But you shouldn’t expect a great film.

Ugana has delivered works of a higher caliber. But as always, his films are worth the detour.

With The Curse, you will get a good film about a scary curse, engaging characters, and some little scares.

The Curse is presented at the FNC on October 14 and 15, 2025.

Trailer