[Film Review] New Religion (2022)

Since premiering at last year’s FrightFest, Keishi Kondo’s New Religion has been at the top of every Japanese horror fan’s watchlist. In his directorial debut, Kondo has created less of a straightforward horror movie and more a living, breathing thought experiment, fluttering in the midst of moral philosophy and asking an enraptured audience to reckon with the timeless, unanswerable question: what makes a human? Spine? Collarbone? Ribs? Hair? History?

After a tragic accident leaves her daughter dead, young mother and call girl Miyabi (a sublime and subtle Kaho Seto) meets Oka (newcomer Satoshi Oka), an unsettling client whose only request is to progressively photograph parts of Miyabi’s body. As her body is captured in celluloid, Miyabi’s grip on reality begins to unravel, mysterious violent deaths occur around Tokyo, and Oka’s intentions are revealed to have consequences even larger than first imagined.

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Even those fatigued by ‘trauma horror’ will find themselves moved by Miyabi’s vulnerability and Seto’s poignant performance - but it’s Oka that steals the show. Drenched in red hell, with a mesmerizing monotony that sticks with you long after credits have rolled, Oka is the insect who dreamt he was a man, attempting to understand humanity by studying victims of urban isolation. Those who fall under his spell have all lost something – a daughter, a father, a dream, a self – which makes New Religion a profoundly devastating example, particularly, of post-pandemic cinematic melancholy. It’s hard to walk away from the film without at least a semblance of wonderment at the haunting atmosphere Kondo has managed to conjure.

Throughout New Religion, Kondo wears his influences proudly, exploring Lynchian dreamscapes, Cronenbergian body horror that’s more Brandon than David and taking cues in light, sound and sinister spaces from Cure maestro Kiyoshi Kurosawa - all while solidifying a distinct, ambitious directorial style that, despite being Kondo’s debut, feels imbued with the confidence of a long history in horror cinema. With masterfully restrained cinematography from Sho Mishina and a droning, electronic soundscape from Akihiko Matsumoto, New Religion flows with a sense of style and grace that takes its time to truly earn your emotional desolation – while never skimping on uncanny dread.

While not always clear cut, for those who like their horror patient and philosophical, New Religion will wrap you in tendrils of tragedy and terror, leaving you bound and helpless to fall under its spell. With its ambiguous ending, and Kondo’s recent announcement that he intends to expand the world even further with two shorts, Neu Forests and Neu Mirrors, there’s no question that – much like the endgame of Oka’s cultish purpose - New Religion signals just the start of something much, much bigger.

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