Part of Romance Is Dead
Deceptively innocent at first, Takashi Miike’s slow-burn J-horror classic finds Aoyama, a middle-aged widower of many years, in an effort to get out and start dating again. When a film producer friend of his teenage son devises a plan to hold a fake audition for a leading lady, Aoyama falls for the silent beauty of Asam, a former ballerina with a dark past. Their courtship veers from quiet romance to…. Well, let’s not spoil one of the great turn-on-a-dime plot twists.
“A stomach-turning masterpiece.” —Peter Bradshaw, Guardian “One of horror’s greatest bait-and-switches, a slow-burn romance that descends into hell, and it remains just as visceral a watch as it was upon its release in 1999.” —Screenslate “AUDITION lulls viewers into a false sense of security. It’s like going up a rollercoaster while blindfolded: you know it’s going to drop at some point, but you are completely powerless and at the mercy of the ride.” —Adam Davidson, BFI
