Our Fantasia Film Festival 2026 coverage continues with the return of Ju-on: Grudge director Takashi Shimizu with an all-new brilliant horror film, The Mouths.
Director Takashi Shimizu has created some of the most unforgettable and haunting supernatural horror films of the last thirty years. Ju-on: The Grudge and it’s English language remake/counterpart The Grudge still stand next to Ringu and The Ring as the rare perfect example of horror originals and remakes that respectively retain their powers as masterpieces of the genre. The Mouths is another masterful film in Shimizu’s career that is as complex and scary as anything he has done before.
A police detective (Shidō Nakamura II) begins to investigate the disappearance of Ann (Ai Yoshikawa), a young college-aged woman around a cursed tree. It appears to be a deceptively simple open-and-shut case. Though something seems to haunt the detective and push him to continue to drag the investigation on, even enlisting a morally dubious journalist. Her friends recount the incident via voice recordings on their phones and the days and weeks following. As they do, we learn more about the tree and the events leading up to Ann’s disappearance. The recounting begins to form confessions. Ones that her friends and even Ann herself may not be as innocent as they first lead us to believe.
The film is based on a short story by Sesuji and is the kind of strong material that director Shimizu’s best films have produced. There is a complexity to the narrative and characters that gives you different perspectives and unfolds the mystery of Ann and the cursed tree. The way that Shimizu effectively uses scares and haunted imagery for not just simple jump moments, but world-building, story, and character is a brilliant cornerstone of his work. Few directors can effectively build their stories to the sort of haunting crescendo that he does here.
The Mouths is a brilliant masterstroke of effective horror storytelling. A reminder that director Takashi Shimizu is one of the most gifted directors in the genre. In a year of great horror films, this stands toe to toe with the very best.
Note: This film deals heavily with themes of suicide.
The Mouths played at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 26th
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Our Fantasia Film Festival 2026 coverage continues with the return of Ju-on: Grudge director Takashi Shimizu with an all-new brilliant horror film, The Mouths.
Director Takashi Shimizu has created some of the most unforgettable and haunting supernatural horror films of the last thirty years. Ju-on: The Grudge and it’s English language remake/counterpart The Grudge still stand next to Ringu and The Ring as the rare perfect example of horror originals and remakes that respectively retain their powers as masterpieces of the genre. The Mouths is another masterful film in Shimizu’s career that is as complex and scary as anything he has done before.
A police detective (Shidō Nakamura II) begins to investigate the disappearance of Ann (Ai Yoshikawa), a young college-aged woman around a cursed tree. It appears to be a deceptively simple open-and-shut case. Though something seems to haunt the detective and push him to continue to drag the investigation on, even enlisting a morally dubious journalist. Her friends recount the incident via voice recordings on their phones and the days and weeks following. As they do, we learn more about the tree and the events leading up to Ann’s disappearance. The recounting begins to form confessions. Ones that her friends and even Ann herself may not be as innocent as they first lead us to believe.
The film is based on a short story by Sesuji and is the kind of strong material that director Shimizu’s best films have produced. There is a complexity to the narrative and characters that gives you different perspectives and unfolds the mystery of Ann and the cursed tree. The way that Shimizu effectively uses scares and haunted imagery for not just simple jump moments, but world-building, story, and character is a brilliant cornerstone of his work. Few directors can effectively build their stories to the sort of haunting crescendo that he does here.
The Mouths is a brilliant masterstroke of effective horror storytelling. A reminder that director Takashi Shimizu is one of the most gifted directors in the genre. In a year of great horror films, this stands toe to toe with the very best.
Note: This film deals heavily with themes of suicide.
The Mouths played at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 26th
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