The film is about a series of murders committed by different people that all bear a mark of X on the body where a detective tries to solve the mystery where he encounters an amnesiac who is linked to these murders. It is a film that is not just a cat-and-mouse murder mystery but also a film that explores what will drive people into the darkest depths of their soul to kill someone. Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s screenplay has a straightforward narrative, yet it has a structure that is unconventional in its study of human nature as this detective in Kenichi Takabe (Koji Yakusho) who is investigating the case as the people who committed these murders are ordinary people with no criminal history. Among them includes a police officer and a doctor who commit grisly murders with no memory of why they did what they did yet they would all encounter a mysterious man before they committed these murderous acts.
The second act is about this mysterious man in Kunihiko Mamiya (Masato Hagiwara) who appears in the first function as he would wander aimlessly around Tokyo’s suburbs and a beach where he would have no clue where he is and asks questions. Then he would pull either a lighter or an object to hypnotize them as he would eventually be captured. However, Takabe’s interrogations with Mamiya would prove to be troubling where Takabe learns more about Mamiya’s background and his methods where he would also have troubling hallucinations of his own. Especially about his wife Fumie (Anna Nakagawa) who has bouts with schizophrenia and often gets lost where Takabe was hoping to take her on holiday after the case is finished. The third act is about Mamiya’s methods as well as discoveries made by Takabe’s friend in a forensic psychologist in Shin Sakuma (Tsuyoshi Ujiki) on where Mamiya learned these methods leading to disturbing revelations.
Kurosawa’s direction is mesmerizing not just in the compositions he creates but also in the atmosphere he brings that also has elements of offbeat yet dark humor. Shot on location in and around Tokyo, Kurosawa creates a film that does not play like a conventional horror film as it opens with Fumie reading Bluebeard at a mental hospital as it sets the tone of what Takabe would deal with. Even as these murders would prove to be gruesome where Kurosawa uses a lot of wide and medium shots to capture the scope of the locations and settings as well as long shots to have scenes linger throughout the film. There are a few close-ups in the film, yet Kurosawa maintains a distance at the action such as the first kill where it is shown in a wide-medium shot in a hotel room as the violence is swift and sudden. There are also bits that are filled with dark humor where a man would jump out of a window as it would be so abrupt in a comical manner in a wide shot.
During the film’s second act, Kurosawa would maintain an element of intrigue where Takabe would interrogate Mamiya in a prison cell as it goes on for minutes where Kurosawa would keep the camera moving while also knowing when to have the camera be still. There is also this sense of dread as it relates to a lighter that Mamiya carries that he uses to hypnotize people only it would not work on Takabe. Still, Takabe’s encounter with Mamiya would have a surreal effect on him as he sees things that play with his own mind. The third act is not just about who influenced Mamiya but also what people would do under things beyond their control as it relates to human nature and the expectations of society. Even as Sakuma would make a discovery himself where he would also start to lose his own grip on reality, leading to Takabe dealing with his own issues including his own feelings about his wife who is also unraveling due to her illness. Overall, Kurosawa crafts an unsettling and evocative film about a mysterious murder case committed by different people unaware of their actions.
Cinematographer Tokusho Kikumura does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on low-key and available light for some of the interior scenes at night along with its usage of available light for the exterior scenes including some eerie yet natural colors in some of the surreal moments in the film. Editor Kan Suzuki does excellent work with the editing where a lot of it is straightforward apart from a few surreal sequences that involve abrupt jump-cuts that does play into the nightmare that Takabe would deal with. Production designer Tomoyuki Maruo and set decorator Fumiaki Suzaka do amazing work with the look of Takabe’s home as well as the mysterious home of Mamiya that is filled with books and animals as it adds to the sense of dread that would loom throughout the film. Costume designers Hiroshi Koto and Ryusui Morita do terrific work with the costumes from the clothes that Takabe wears as well as the sweater and loose pants that Mamiya wears.
Special makeup effects artist Yuichi Matsui does fantastic work with the makeup effects design of the gore and the X mark on necks of the murder victims. The sound work of Hiromichi Kori is superb for its sound in maintaining an atmosphere in creating that sense of dread and terror as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Gary Ashiya is wonderful for its mixture of somber piano pieces as well as a few ambient and electronic bits to play into the suspense.
The film’s marvelous ensemble cast include some notable small roles from Masahiro Toda and Misayo Haruki as a couple who meet Mamiya and invite him to their house, Touji Kawahigashi as Fumie’s psychiatrist, Hajime Tanimoto as the police chief, and Ren Ogusi as a police officer in Fujiwara who would share a police box with the officer who captured Mamiya in the first act. Denden is terrific as the police officer Oida who would encounter Mamiya and arrest him only for things to go wrong. Yukijiro Hotaru and Yoriko Doguchi are fantastic in their respective roles as the businessman Kuwano and Dr. Miyajima as two people who would meet Mamiya as their encounters with him would bring trouble. Anna Nakagawa is excellent as Takabe’s wife Fumie as a woman that is dealing with her own schizophrenia and memory issues as she unknowingly becomes a burden for her husband despite his love for her.
Tsuyoshi Ujiki is brilliant as the forensic psychologist Shin Sakuma who helps Takabe in the investigation as he would make a discovery about Mamiya’s methods only to start to lose his grip on reality during his study of Mamiya. Koji Yakusho is great as Kenichi Takabe as a police detective who leads the case of the series of murders as he starts to lose control in his pursuit and his own encounters with Mamiya where he tries to stay grounded as he also deals with his wife’s mental illness where he would imagine things that shock him. Finally, there is Masato Hagiwara in a phenomenal performance as Kunihiko Mamiya as this amnesiac who wanders around places and meets people where he repeatedly ask questions and then hypnotize them. It is a performance where Hagiwara has this air of restraint and calmness that is unsettling as the only time, he shows any emotion is a scene in his cell by himself during the third act as it only leads to more trouble as a man who is in control of everything as he creates one of the finest antagonists ever captured in cinema.
Kyua is a tremendous film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa that features spectacular performances from Koji Yakusho and Masato Hagiwara. Along with its supporting cast, study of human nature, eerie visuals, and an unsettling atmosphere in its sound and music. The film is an unconventional psychological-horror film that explores a series of murders committed by different people who do not remember what they did as they are all connected by a mysterious figure as it plays into their darkest fears. In the end, Kyua is a sensational film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa Films: (Kandagawa Pervert Wars) – (Sweet Home (1989 film)) – (The Guard from Underground) – (Serpent’s Path (1998 film)) – (License to Live) – (Charisma) – (Séance) – (Pulse (2001 film)) – (Bright Future) – (Doppelganger (2003 film)) – (Kazuo Umezu’s Horror Theater-House of Bugs) – (Loft (2005 film)) – (Retribution) – (Tokyo Sonata) – (Real (2013 film)) – (Seventh Code) – (Journey to the Shore) – (Creepy) – (Daguerrotype) – (Before We Vanish) – (Foreboding) – (To the Ends of the Earth) – (Wife of a Spy) – (Cloud (2024 film)) – (Serpent’s Path (2024 film))
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