Part of the 2023 season: Always Evolving

Lesson in Murder

Shikei ni itaru yamai, 死刑にいたる病

Director SHIRAISHI Kazuya

Cast ABE Sadawo, OKADA Kenshi, IWATA Takanori

2022, 128 min, English Subtitles

Masaya (OKADA Kenshi) wiles away his gloomy and far from ideal university days.  One day, he receives a letter from the worst serial killer in history, Haimura Yamato (ABE Sadawo). Haimura has been convicted of nine murders and sentenced to death. In the letter, Haimura admits to having committed eight murders but insists that the last murder was not committed by him. Accepting Haimura’s request to find the true killer, Masaya begins to investigate the last of the murders. As he dives deep into the criminal mind, a shocking truth is revealed which proves to be nauseating.

One of the most prolific Japanese directors of the twenty-first century, SHIRAISHI Kazuya does not shy away from depicting crude violence, making this film painfully powerful. ABE Sadawo perfectly performs his role of Haimura, a horrible serial killer who exerts a vicious yet subtly conveyed instability.

© 2022 ”Lesson in Murder” Film Partners

Past screenings