Himeanôru

I really enjoyed this from beginning to end. It ranks among the best serial-killer thrillers in the past 5-10 years in my opinion. The greatest thing is that it initially plays like an innocent, albeit strange comedy/drama about two weirdos trying to get to a likable waitress. The serial-killer angle rears its head after the 40-minute mark and it is so well paced that you naturally accept the proceedings and just go with it.

It kinda resembled Korean movies in its stylish execution of the thriller elements, without skipping on any gore during the killings. And it definitely gets brutal so be prepared. I won't spoil much but note that the movie doesn't leave out any quality drama either, not even during the climax which is emotional as much as it is hard hitting.

If you like extreme Asian thrillers like I Saw the Devil or Killers, definitely check this out as well.

"Himeanole" is one of the most awkward movies I have ever seen, one that jumps from funny, hilarious, to dark, disturbing and creepy all through its running time, sometimes even in the same scene.

It even starts that way, with Gaku Hamada's Okada discovering that his co-worker, Ando, is infatuated with waitress Yuka, who seems to be also drawing the attention of a 'yanki' ( a Japanese slang word that is used to describe young men with not much to do and that look shady, and delinquent-looking), who surprisingly enough is Okada's old classmate Morita. From that moment we get strange moment after strange moment, Ando pressuring Okada to discover if Yuka has a boyfriend, and Yuka being scared because it seems Morita has been stalking her. All the while Okada and Yuka become friends. It sounds weird, and we get lots of awkward moments, as Ando stalks Okada and Yuka, people behave very strangely, and all around creepy situations.

But that is only the beginning of the story, and kudos to everyone involved for making the film navigate through its very different and varied tones without losing its cohesion and the viewer's interest. The movie is full of surprising moments and twists, the acting is good, the direction secured and everyone gets interesting and twisted character developments. It is a very interesting look into the human psyche, the plot giving a lot of time to the reasons behind every character's action or belief. It offers a very dark view of humanity in some moments, but at some others a very touching one, and it is thoughtful all through.

"Himeanole" is as strange as they come, but it is a movie with its heart in the right place, and that offers a palette of colors, instead of staying in dichotomies. Surprising and totally worth your time.

This is an ugly movie. The kind that makes you feel depressed and hopeless... but it's pretty good! In my opinion, this movie is actual, real horror. No ghosts, no 'creatures,' just broken humans; and that makes it all the more horrifying. Don't be fooled by the slow start, once it picks up, you won't be able to stop watching. It's disturbing, mildly gory, creepy, and the acting is great! The story-telling is great, the pacing is great, it's an overall good movie; and I guarantee you won't be able to forget about it for quite some time.

After watching this I can say that this movie is a seamless quilt of all aspects of emotion. It's funny, tragic, romantic, scary, disturbing and it even has relatability in depicting the awkward moments of new relationships.

If you are looking at reviews you probably already know what is about so you just kinda want to know if it is worth your time. It was worth mine. It is filmed and acted well. The scripting and storyline may have a couple of holes but you won't really notice them. There was only one weird aspect about this. About halfway through the movie is when they decide to show the title and actors names. That sorta threw me for a loop because it seemed to come out of nowhere. That was strange for me.

Overall this is a movie that I could see myself watching again. Check it out.

Sometimes you lose sometimes you win; but seems that these things are not under your own power or in your hands; always some one do a move then you automatically be pushed to be a winner or a loser. In this case, the relationships are very complicated more if you are the loser and keep all those bad feelings inside you for long time; then someday you need to let it escape somehow; problem is that if you are/were the loser and also the weaker; the escape (and the revenge) normally have a higher dose of violence than what you received.

The actors are very well chosen for their roles. The camera work is on its pace with the scenes.

The violence looks like a real violence and the psycho looks like that. Pretty good movie.