With Fantasia Film Festival being around the corner, I gladly delve into their Japanese selection to pick those movies we think no fan of Japanese cinema should miss. I will, however, advise our readers not to take our list too seriously and give any film that piques their interest a chance. I, as spectator and as critic, have often been genuinely surprised by films that I, at first, for some reason or another deemed less interesting.

Films we recommend

AnyMart (2026) by Yusuke Iwasaki

With AnyMart, Iwasaki offers audiences a darkly twisted comical horror narrative that does not merely expose the dynamic of repressive societal violence – the brutal erasure of what does not fit the imaginary veil, but also shows how such violence pushes the subject’s death-drive to realize its self-destructive finality. Anymart does not shock with its delivery of violent brutality, but with his ominous message that the Japanese Other, in his capitalistic as well as its patriarchal guise, will refuse that what does not fit: subjectivity/desire – a thing we, following Iwasaki, should protest.

Suzuki: Bakudan (2025) by Akari Nagai

Suzuki=Bakudan does not only take the spectator on a thrilling ride, a high-stakes chess game with signifiers as rooks, but also brutally confronts him with the effects of the over-emphasis of pleasure and consumption within social interactions on the subject, a driven by his demand for symbolic recognition. Thanks to Jiro Sato’s pitch-perfect performance, Akira Nagai succeeds in delivering one of the most thrilling societal critiques in recent memory. 

Film we look forward to

Gozu (2003) by Takashi Miike

If you get a chance to watch one of Miike’s legendary films on the big screen, you should take that opportunity with both arms. While certain critics have attacked this low-budget feature for its radical incoherence, the concatention of absurd twists which secretly taps into our unconscious, into our psychosexual fantasies, does warrant your interpretation. So please take a seat, fasten your seatbelts, and embark on this unpredictable unhinged experience.

Nameless (2026) by Hideo Jojo

While Hideo Jojo is not really known for directing pyschological thriller narratives, we are nevertheless eager to delve into his adapation of Jiro Sato’s own web-manga. The main reason for our excitment is the fact that Jiro Sato takes on the lead role. He has – see Suzuki: Bakudan (2025) – proven that he can bring twisted subjects alive in a trully compelling way, keeping the spectator on the edge of his seat.

The Samurai and The Prisoner (2026) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

As a cinephile, one can only be enthusiastic for a new Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s feature. While he made his name in the genre of horror, he has proven over the years that his distinct cinematic approach works to deliver comepelling narratives within variety of genres – e.g. drama, science fiction, action, romance, and espionage. And now – fuelled by his humanism, he takes on the jidai-geki genre. Kurosawa, we are ready.

Village of The Eight Stones (2026) by Takashi Shimizu

What compelled Takashi Shimizu to return to Seisho Yokomizu’s legendary detective Kosuke Kindaichi and follow Kon Ichikawa footsteps to revive the celebrated novel Villlage of Eight Gravestones on the silver screen? Can he do justice to the novel and let his creative voice be heard within the confines of Yokomizo’s story? We are eager to find our.