Schoolgirl crushes on male teachers are hardly limited to Japan, but it’s a theme more seen in mainstream movies here than in Hollywood, with “My Teacher” (2017) and “Sensei Kunshu” (2018) being recent examples.
Hideo Jojo's "To Be Killed by a High School Girl," which is based on a comic by Usamaru Furuya, turns this theme on its head to ingeniously twisty, if cringeworthy, effect. The film challenges taboos with a dark comedic vibe, much like other adaptations of Furuya’s manga, such as 2016’s “Litchi Hikari Club” (boys form a club devoted to eternal youth and beauty) and 2017’s “Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High” (students engage in power struggles at an elite high school).
The film’s protagonist, who comes up with the scheme for the title murder, is less a moral monster than an extreme case of abnormal psychology. Also, Jojo, who also wrote the script, strains to give his bizarre story a semblance of internal logic, leading to a bang-up climax in which all of the plot’s puzzle pieces snap into place with well-timed precision.