Review: Killers

An emotionless, meticulous Japanese serial killer (Kazuki Kitamura) records his misdeeds and posts the videos online where they are viewed by a brooding Indonesian journalist (Oka Antara) in a troubled marriage. Although a loving father, the Indonesian man seems to have a dark side too, and soon he is committing his own acts of violence, albeit with different motives (He is pretty much forced into killing someone, though he seems to find afterwards that he liked it). And then Kitamura decides to introduce himself to Antara online, after viewing Antara’s own grisly video, and a strange, twisted relationship begins between the two men as Kitamura sees himself the teacher to Antara’s pupil. Meanwhile, the seemingly sociopathic Kitamura is also experiencing some kind of feelings for a friendly flower shop girl. He wouldn’t hurt her, would he?

Co-directed by Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, from a screenplay by Tjahjanto and Takuji Ushiyama, this 2014 Japanese killer-thriller (produced by Gareth Huw Evans, of “The Raid”) suffers from a couple of narrative issues, but is otherwise a good film. It’s really dark, creepy and bleak stuff that some may not want to go along with. However, if you can stomach it, I think it’s really interesting and effective. The world on show here is one rife with creeps and killers in hiding. It’s actually more frightening than a lot of horror films I’ve seen.

Pretty boy Kazuki Kitamura has a good line in emotionless, sociopathic, Patrick Bateman-esque serial killer that is the best thing in the film. Co-star Oka Antara plays the more complex role of a guy not quite as far on the journey to serial killer just yet. The relationship between the two resembles “Copycat” at times. It’s a great, “Dexter”-ish idea for a film, albeit without the dark humour of that (mostly) terrific TV series.

I found the geography of the whole thing a bit confusing for a while. I couldn’t work out whether or not the Japanese guy was in Indonesia as well (for the most part, no he isn’t), because for the most part he’s only an online presence. I guess I was meant to just accept that the Internet is a global thing that makes people feel more closely connected, but I still think a little more clarity was needed. So it took a while for me to find my bearings there I must say.

I also think the last quarter takes a bit of a downward turn by trying to create some sympathy for one of the main characters, who by this point has fallen way too far to be redeemed in any way whatsoever. Maybe it was an attempt at giving us a ray of sunshine out of the abyss, but the Antara character has already gone so far down into that abyss that it just doesn’t seem to spring organically from the story or character. Still, it’s a really interesting, extremely creepy film that isn’t easily shaken from you afterwards.

Rating: B-