The Forest of Love (2019)

Sono Sion delivers once again with beautiful cinematography and incredibly unique storytelling. He keeps you guessing throughout this two hours the entire time who the real killer is even if you know the real case it is based on. Some details lined up but the story is told in such a way that even if you are familar with all the details of the real life incident, you do not know the outcome of the movie. While officially it is labelled as Crime, Drama and Psychological it definitly touches the horror line.
The actors brought this story to life in a truly amazing way. The actors all played their roles so convincingly; they didn't let a single clue loose until the reveals of all the twists. It's easy to fall for some characters whilst not caring for others due to their characters' personalities.
Although the music probably did influence feeling during the film, no sound or track in particular was fully present until the ending credits
For rewatch value, although the film is good and would be fun to watch again when looking for a guilty pleasure to binge, a lot of the shock factor and twists are known after one watch, so the shock value and enjoyment value does go down slightly when thinking about a rewatch

Watched and wrote this review with etherealtaekibum

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It's hard for me to rate this film because I liked it and hated it at the same time.
What I liked:
-cinematography was on point, overall everything was aesthetically pleasing.
-acting
What I did not like:
-90% of characters. Specially Murata, who made my blood boil multiple times.
-ending..

This story is based on real events so I'm not surprised about how things went on. I get that this film might not be for everyone, particularly if you consider yourself to be sensitive. Film went slow (didn't have to last 2h 30m) but the way the film is directed made it interesting regardless.
I got kinda annoyed by the attitude of the characters following this cult, I refuse to believe society can be this submissive. Hoping that the director just exaggerated the situation, because I rolled my eyes so much throughout the movie: come on, you can't be this blind & dumb.
[SPOILER ALERT, SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH] I was waiting for those two guys to end up receiving what they deserved but the film ended so suddenly! It left me hanging. They do specify that they ended up in jail/one had a death sentence, so that makes me feel a bit relieved.

Overall, 5/10, nice experience since I haven't watched a lot of gore-ish Japanese cinema, but probably wouldn't watch again.

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