Synopsis
Yoshimi Matsubara is going through a divorce and is fighting for custody of her five-year-old daughter, Ikuko. Yoshimi gets to keep Ikuko for the time being. To support herself and her daughter, Yoshimi gets a job at a publishing company and moves into a shabby apartment near her workplace. She notices a stain on the ceiling the day she moves in. It bothers her but other than that, the house seems tolerable. However, the stain grows bigger day by day. Along with the dampness of her home, the sound of footsteps, and the gloominess of her hallway makes Yoshimi uneasy. And then, she begins to catch glimpses of something moving about in her home. Yoshimi thinks about moving. But after hearing that it would look bad for her in court, Yoshimi has no choice but to stay. Then one night, Ikuko acts strange ; she suddenly goes to the rooftop in the middle of the night. Water drips from the stain on the ceiling and her daughter who had suddenly disappeared shows up in the house upstairs. Yoshimi is aghast when she finds out that the house upstairs has long been vacant and the little girl who lived there had disappeared. The invisible being surrounding Yoshimi and Ikuko will not leave them alone. A unique horror film on the theme of "death and love" of loved ones. Director Hideo Nakata, who showed us the essence of supernatural horror films with four years ago, makes the audience stand on edge throughout the entire running time of 101 minutes. A good combination of lighting, picture, and sound, the film provokes in the audience the contradictory desires of not wanting to see and wanting to see more. Hitomi Kuroki, who starred in , shows a change in acting style worth watching. (Yoon Yong-soon)