Cure

Each victim has an X cut into the throat. Each killer was found nearby, confessed immediately, and has no idea what happened. A young man with no memory keeps appearing near them, asking people who they are.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa directs almost entirely in wide, static, long takes, frequently with the camera in another room. Violence happens at a distance, in one shot, without music, and the effect is far worse than coverage would be.

Mamiya's method is mesmerism, and the film's argument is that he is not implanting anything, only removing the thing that stops people.

Kōji Yakusho plays the detective as a man with a sick wife and no reserves left, which is the vulnerability the film exploits.

It was shot as the sarin attack on the Tokyo subway was still raw, and originally carried the title Evangelist until the producers judged the cult association too close. It is not about the attack and it could not have been made without it.