Visitors to Japan are often surprised by the visual and aural clutter they encounter in what they might know as the land of Zen. Instead of minimalist rock gardens, Japanese cities assault the senses with bright lights, ads and loudspeaker noise. This overload extends to other areas: from stocked-to-the-rafters discount stores (Don Quijote) to movies with tons of characters and reams of dialogue ("Shin Godzilla").
Kazuya Shiraishi's "Sunny/32" is billed as an "idol movie" as it stars NGT48 member Rie Kitahara as a naive teacher. But it's more of a cinematic Don Quijote, cramming in a stalking, kidnapping and crazed cult, as well as murders both shocking and bizarre. And if you have a fetish for hog-tied women in frilly pink dresses, you've come to the right movie.
The prolific Shiraishi has been making one dark, stylish film after another, usually set in society's lower depths, since his critical and commercial breakthrough with "The Devil's Path," a crime drama from 2013 that lives up to its sulfurous title.