In the crowdedlandscape of indie cinema, a little bit of hype can go a long way. This seems to go double for indie horror movies, where word-of-mouth buzz or a glowing festival review can take a low-budget vision to heights its creators never imagined. Reports of viewers passing out or throwing up helped turn theTerrifierfranchise into one of the biggest indie horror hits of all time, for a recent example.
The Japanese filmBest Wishes to All, written and directed by Yuta Shimotsu and currently streaming onShudder, has beenthe latest to top the hype cycle, winning “Scariest Feature” at the Overlook Film Festival and sporting a glowing review fromRolling Stone’sDavid Fear, who called it “the best Japanese horror movie in decades.” But this hype can also be a double-edged sword, setting unrealistic expectations that no film could hope to achieve, and sadly, this is also the case withBest Wishes to All.
What Is ‘Best Wishes to All’?
(Spoilers forBest Wishes to All)
For those unfamiliar,Best Wishes to Allis both an unnerving horror story and an allegory for the complicated nature of happiness in the modern world. A young nursing student (Kotone Furukawa) goes to visit her grandparents (Arifuku Masashi and Inuyama Yoshiko) in the Japanese countryside and very quickly notices some strange behavior. Initially, it doesn’t seem like much more than a particularly strange form of senility; that is, untilshe discovers a man in their home with his eyes, mouth, and ears sewn shut.
While this development understandably freaks her out, it’s nothing strange to her grandparents or anyone else in the town, who tell herthe man is responsible for their happinessand chide her for her naïveté in thinking the world works any other way. When the rest of her family arrives, it’s clear that she’s the only one in the family who finds anything wrong with this arrangement.
Shudder’s New J-Horror ‘Best Wishes to All’ Shocks with Grotesque Violence and a Bleak Worldview
Yûta Shimotsu’s unsettling feature film debut ‘Best Wishes to All’ sees a young nursing student grapple with the discovery of a dark family secret.
The film makes a common anxiety about modern life disturbingly literal: that happiness is a finite resource, and for one person to be happy, someone else has to suffer. The convenience of the modern world often comes at the cost of exploitation, whether for someone on the other side of the world or in the Amazon fulfillment center down the street, andBest Wishes to Allbrings that exploitation right into the home. While this is a global concern, particularly in the developed world, the film is also uniquely Japanese, exploring the conflict between tradition and modernity and the challenges of caring for the elder generation.
Best Wishes to Allis at its best in the early going, wringing queasy dark comedy from thestrange behavior of the grandparents, who blankly stare at nothing with their mouths agape or force their granddaughter’s fingers into their eyes, but starts to lose some steam in the second half, once the game is given away and the granddaughter struggles with this new reality while also being seemingly unable to leave town.The uncanny oddness of the first half gives way to full-on surrealism in the second half that muddies the central allegory.
‘Best Wishes to All’ Was Overhyped, But It’s Still Worth Watching
Best Wishes to Allcould probably never have lived up to the hype placed upon it by some corners of the horror press, but that doesn’t mean it’s a waste of time. It’s beautifully shot and excellently acted, particularly by Arifuku and Inuyama as the grandparents who strike the ideal, uncanny tone. It’s certainly more thematically rich than a lot of horror fare, and should prompt some interesting discussions about tradition and family duty. Even viewers who aren’t crazy about the film will likely have plenty to say about it, which counts for a lot.
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Despite winning “Scariest Feature,“the movie really isn’t all that scary, relying more on asteadily mounting sense of dreadoccasionally punctuated by uncomfortable laughter, leading to a disturbing payoff. It’s not the kind of movie that really aims for sheer horror, preferring to unsettle rather than outright terrify. It’s quieter and more grounded than its reputation might suggest, creating a feeling of mismatch between the audience’s expectations and Shimotsu’s intent for the film.
Hype can be a boon to an indie film, taking the careers of actors and filmmakers to a new level and giving the project a degree of exposure that would likely be unreachable without it. But it can also end up hurting as much as it helps, making even a good movie feel like a disappointment if it falls at all short. This is sadly the case withBest Wishes to All,a worthwhile and well-made movie with plenty to make it worth watching, but nevertheless doesn’t live up to the expectations placed on it. Divorced from those expectations, it might fare better, but unfortunately, it’s probably too late for that now.
Stream on Shudder
Best Wishes to All
