Director Sion Sono had done a film called, "The Suicide Club" that had an interesting story, but was just a mediocre movie. In fact it had seemed like there were holes in the story. This film pretty much fills in all the holes and has so much more added on. This movie is almost three hours long and jam packed with dialog. But really good dialog. It almost had a poetic feel to it. This is called semi-sequel, but actually it more or less takes place during the other movie. This film is listed as a horror film. But it is not the gore fest that "The Suicide Club" was. The movie had no scare factor at all. But mentally it was creepy. Two sisters run away from home and get into a business where others rent them to be part of their family. The creepy part is that they take on different names and personalities and they get so use it, they become these alternate people. It really does give the movie a creepy warped feeling at parts. The sisters are played by Kazue Fukiishi; who is a nerdy type girl who becomes more open with her other personality. Then you have Yuriko Yoshitaka; who basically turns into someone else, but mostly stays the same personality wise. The girl who runs the business is played by Tsugumi who has the most warped mind in the film. She loves role playing in these families because she never had one. She likes it so much, it is like she is trying to find the perfect family to stay with. The movie does run a bit long, but in some ways it is worth it because the words spoken and the meaning behind the movie are pretty powerful.

Sion Sono follows up Suicide Club/Suicide Circle with this, a telling of the story from a different perspective that, Lost-like, answers some questions from the previous movie while exchanging even more. This movie, however, is more character based, and involves the issue of role-playing in society--rather than being merely a commentary on pop culture, it's a discussion of the nature of being "connected to oneself" or, really, being who you are meant to be, not who society wants you to be or even what you were born into being.A great way in which Sono pulls this off is to have multiple voice-over narrators engage in a confessional storytelling mode. Unfortunately for international viewers, said voice-over often is delivered over dialog of the movie as well, and the sub-titles can tend to fall behind in many cases, resulting in it being difficult from time to time to tell what all is being said. Can't fault the intentions, but this movie is probably not nearly quite the experience it would be in its native language.It also commits the cardinal sin of an unjustified playlength. This movie ran about 2 1/2 hours long, but ten minutes could have been shaved off of the end. Sono attempted to justify it with a repeated motif of running away, this time with Yuka, the younger sister, but the movie had a much stronger ending on the "Let's start over" moment. Due to the introspective nature of the movie, however, it makes sense that sometimes the best ending doesn't necessarily end the idea. It's just that this is one of those movies that fades out tantalizingly several times before finally actually ending, and that gets frustrating to watch some times.--PolarisDiB

I used to think of myself as (among other things) a cinephile, someone who had a taste for good cinema, whose Favorite Movies list was topped by some little known films. But I had seen nothing until Noriko's Dinner Table. I haven't seen Suicide Club yet. I hope to see it soon, but in truth it doesn't matter: right now I consider Noriko's my new absolute "best movie ever" and that doesn't depend on what it's part of or what other films has ever directed its author.There are personal reasons behind that election, of course, but then, isn't every election personal, and what other meaning could hide behind the word "My" in "My Favorite Movies"? Of course my familiar history or situation is or was extremely confusing, unstable, unhealthy, and unusual. But, maybe roleplaying is more than Japan's main existential issue. Maybe it's our entire culture's main existential issue. "The actor behind the mask", as in "Riding Alone for Thousand of Miles". The hidden heart, clouded in fat and entertainment and busy-ness, entangled in meaningless liasons that produce meaningless families; the confused heart that can only be brought out (exorcised) using a knife. And a camera. The movie is divided into chapters, one for each of the main characters. And thus the viewer can achieve what the characters themselves can't: understand other people's motives and feelings. This is my first review BTW, and will probably be the last. I'm not into sharing my views or anything like that... But in this case the impact was extreme and the reviews here weren't doing it justice so far.

Well, this is not Suicide Club 2 and you will be disappointed if you expect it to be... You need to watch it open-minded! It kind of feels more like a "watchable book" than a movie, it is a new viewing experience which only works if you open up to it. It is one of the most intense movies I have ever seen, it is all about emotion and - the only real parallel to Suicide Club - it cannot really be understood, it can only be felt... I will not talk about the plot here, as this is impossible without spoilers, so go to the discussion board if you want to know more. However, I recommend watching it first. Believe me, it's worth it, unless you expect it to be something you can expect...