By RICHELLE CHARKOT
Starring Mai Fukagawa, Tetchy Hirahara and Atsuko Hirata
Written by Eisuke Naito
Directed by Yuriyan Retriever
Third Window Films
Have you heard of the Mag Mag? She’s freakishly tall, and you have to tilt your head to look at her.
The opening few seconds of Yuriyan Retriever’s MAG MAG capture a pitch-perfect tone: Two young men discuss a folkloric female spectre, and one discloses that he has indeed been haunted by the lumbering presence of a seemingly dead woman. Immediately, the audience enters an eerie world that’s not unfamiliar in the J-horror space – something that feels a bit ethereal and cloudy, but also frightfully possible, thanks to conventions of Japan’s unique horror storytelling. MAG MAG follows a wide cast of characters, all experiencing a similar haunting rather than a lone protagonist embarking on the hero’s journey. In this structure, the ghosts are as inevitable as the common cold, making it crucial to approach them with caution and respect. Though reepiness is in no short supply, Retriever also makes her comedy background known with an excellent sight gag in the opening titles. The audience knows immediately they are in for a few uncomfortable laughs along the way.
MAG MAG unfolds in a series of chapters focusing on the men and boys that the ghost chooses to haunt. In one segment, we meet a sculptor with a penchant for “admiring” the female form. In another, we meet a “lady’s man” (read misogynist) who loves to play with the emotions of the women he lives with, and in another, we meet a young boy who just wants to play with his new ghostly friend. Within these stories, we experience terror and heartache as we learn what happened to create the Mag Mag – and a unique blend of uncanny anti-comedy. Retriever strikes a great balance between respecting the genre and satirizing classic ghost stories. This is especially bolstered by some great performances. One standout is the completely deranged Sara Minami as Sanae, a tortured artist with a desperate crush on one of Mag Mag’s victims. At first, her stalking presence suggests she might be the titular ghost, but then we find something far sillier and, honestly, somehow far more sinister.
Along with a great cast, Retriever’s film boasts excellent creature design in the Mag Mag. From the makeup and costuming to an exceptionally strange physical performance by Marina Mizushima, we get something that is certainly scary and certainly fun to watch.
