Domestic Suspense
If you are a fan of domestic suspense/thriller, you can give a shot to this.Aishuu Cinderella is like a little fusion/mix of what I've read in some domestic psychological suspense/thrillers. Anyway, they kind of wasted the potential of this movie to be one of the best domestic psychological suspense writings by putting too much on the main characters' relationship development (in the first half). It was indeed intense later on but the suspense build up also felt too short. I wish they showed more on changes in Koharu and the craziness of others. It was like a rush character development. It fall anticlimactic towards the ending.
Nevertheless, the acting performances were superb. Both mains are spectacular in their previous works and the child actor was great too. At one point, our blood may boil lol.
The sounds used were intense too. It suited the creepy, tension concept.
Overall, it is still an enjoyable movie for me. A bit anticlimactic but it didn't disappoint as a whole.
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A must-watch for Tsuchiya Tao & Tanaka Kei fans
Tsuchiya Tao once again shows her versatility as an actress, she really does shine in these dark roles (action, comedy etc). I read Tao turned down the offer to act in this film three times and after having watched this movie, I can definitely see why one would want to turn down the offer after reading such script, especially the ending. Much like in Anikoma, Kasane and now Aishu Cinderella, she rejected those roles at first but has exceled portraying the characters in those too. This honestly has to be her darkest and the most heaviest role I've seen her work on (second being Kasane now) and it's kinda mind-boggling considering her real life sweet, kind personality at first seem like it wouldn't be a good fit for her to take on this kind of story but the fact that she hit it out of the park with this film speaks volumes to her versatility as an actress. Tanaka Kei was no exception as well, he's always good in these psychological genres as well.The whole time you're watching this film. there's this feeling of ominous in every scene and sense of dread in them, it keeps the viewers on the edge of their seat anticipating for what's going to happen next because you really don't know what to expect afterwards.
The film is then backed up by the many classy music in the background which made for a more suspenseful, ominous atmosphere the entire time giving sinister vibes. I would love to listen to the soundtracks if I could find them, some of them are honestly a delight to listen to.
The cinematography in this film doesn't disappoint as well, I found myself pausing the movie to take screencap so many times lol. The scenes in the afternoon would have very vibrant visuals but gloomy, dark for scenes that screams danger.
I personally have no idea what exactly I'm supposed to be getting from this very twisted story but I find it to be one of those stories that are unapologetic and tragic and it'll leave the viewers feeling dreadful and empty after finishing the movie. Two hours flew by just like that and I wished it was longer, even when I don't know where the story was heading to. The slow-mo shots of kids enthusiastically coming to school and learning near the end and that sort of ending was just a work of Satan, straight up evil and sinister and it left me feeling dreadful. All in all, I found it to be a good watch and I would recommend it, especially for Tsuchiya Tao & Tanaka Kei fans but it's definitely not recommended for the weak-hearted.
(spoilers TW // child death, multiple children deaths)
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This review may contain spoilers
A fairy tale gone wrong
The story has all the seeds of an interesting and intriguing story - a jaded Fukuura Koharu who just went through a rough set of unfortunate events met a handsome doctor and widower, Izumisawa Daigo and saved him from imminent danger. This one act of kindness set off a chain of fairy tale-like sequences in return, luring her in to become part of Daigo's family. He's handsome, generous, and rich, with a pretty daughter who needs a mother's love. What could possibly go wrong?Well, anything. What happens in the movie is a deliciously dark spiral down to madness, where everything comes crashing down in the end. Sometimes, you just need a story where everything goes wrong (or right, for them?) in the end, and if you're looking for one, then this is it. However, the development and pacing did not fully realize the movie's potential.
For one, Koharu's sudden decision around the 1hr. 30-min mark of the film came too suddenly that I need to pause for a while and rewind. Like what someone else on the comments and review section said, this would've worked better as a 3-episode drama because there's so much to unpack - there's a lot of symbolism and parallels that could've been more properly explored. As it is, it felt like they wanted to do too many things in the movie, and ended up rushing certain things (like the ending. that didn't make sense considering that the couple wreaked havoc on the school some few days before - no way should the authorities let them back in like that).
The OST is a gem, though, I've listened to it countless times since they released it on Spotify on February of this year, and to hear it in the movie made the dark spin on fairy tales all the more prominent. The film was also very aesthetic, it was very pleasing to the eye with a lot of scenic shots. The color grading was done tastefully - the colors either pop up or blend with shadows, depending on how the movie's progression.
Tsuchiya Tao doesn't disappoint - she truly does shine in dark roles. As much as I liked seeing her portray happiness and joy, it is in the movie's 2nd half did she truly shine. She lets herself loose, depicting Koharu's frustration, exhaustion, irritation, anger, and devastation with ease, you can clearly see the emotions on her face and with that, I must say that her work in Aishu Cinderella is one of her best, so far. Coco as Hikari did a great job of annoying me lol, but she still had a lot of room to grow for the scenes that shows Hikari's depth. Tanaka Kei as Daigo's also fun to watch, and like with Tao, I like seeing him best when he's getting unhinged (that dinner scene in the latter part of the movie's a delight to watch!).
All in all, Aishu Cinderella could've been so much more, it had a lot of potential but this wasn't fully realized due mainly to its pacing and development. However, one of the things it did right is show everyone the responsibility and role of parents as the primary teachers of their children. What you teach to your kids and how you deal with them will ultimately affect the kind of person that they will become in the future. And like what Koharu said, truly, how do you become a good mother?
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a fairytale with a sinister twist
PLOT 8/10Koharu's objective was already clear right from the movie: to be a mother she never had. This was the very base of her character and her own weakness as it would be later used against her. On one unfortunate night where she almost lost everything she had, she found everything she was looking for: a prince who will save him from being poor and an instant daughter to fulfill her maternal dreams. And they lived happily ever after...NOT.
This was perhaps Tsuchiya Tao's best performance up to date. While she is expectedly good in dark and heavy roles, she was just perfect as Koharu. She was the perfect cinderella: excellently portraying a person with a sorrowful past but still has a good heart, although has a tendency to grab on the first light she sees after years of what might feel like crawling through a long, dark tunnel...too bad for her, turned out that light was just an illusion. Her dream family turned out to be a crazy trap. Tao was specially amazing at showing how her character went through a cognitive dissonance; just by her eyes, you can clearly feel her confusion and struggle to do the right thing but ended up falling short.
The ending was quite predictable to me since Koharu already declared that she would do ANYTHING for her family...maybe I just didn't expect it would be that drastic, it was funny to think about it to be honest.
ACTING 10/10
Everyone was fantastic! Tao was the perfect Koharu, Kei was as usual excellent when it comes to strange roles, and Coco was really good for someone who acted for the first time and with such a heavy role. The chemistry between the characters really match; the dynamics makes so much sense that you'll understand how their characters developed 'til the end.
DIRECTION 6/10
Now this is where I'm having a bit of a problem with. While the cinematography and the music are very appropriate, it's how the scenes were pieced together that I felt fell flat. I do understand that they might be going for a fairytale kind of pacing where it starts slow then suddenly whimsically fast, they must've forgotten that this was also supposed to be a suspense/thriller which needs a proper build up and then a sudden blow up. I just didn't find that in that movie.
OVERALL 8/10
Like from all fairytales: DON'T GET MARRIED TO FAST! Lol Kidding aside, despite the points for improvement, Aishu Cinderella is still a good watch even with Tsuchiya Tao's performance alone. A lot to think about parenting and having a family.
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