Re/Member review: A film about a murderous demon has no right to be this wholesome

Netflix's new teen horror/slasher movie Re/Member is a pretty interesting watch and certainly manages to leave a mark upon viewing it for the first time. Even though it's morbidly scary, there are some wholesome moments about friendship that are really heartwarming.

Re/Member stars Kanna Hashimoto as Asuka Morisaki and Gordon Maeda as Takahiro Ise. They are joined by Maika Yamamoto, Kotaro Daigo, Fuju Kamio, Mayuu Yokota, Shuntaro Yanagi, Naomi Nishida, and Tasuku Emoto.

The story follows a bunch of high school students who are on a mission to solve the mystery of a dismembered body while getting stuck in a time loop and being tormented every night by a demonic creature.

Let's dive into a detailed review of this fascinating movie.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from Re/Member.

---

Re/Member review: Beware of the "Red Person"

From the very beginning of the movie, we are made aware that the entire film is the aftermath of the gruesome murder of an 8-year-old girl by an axeman. The ripples of this hideous crime will be felt as a form of a curse. This curse is doomed to continue until a certain task is fulfilled.

Most recently, six Japanese high school students have been victims of this curse. Asuka, an outcast in her class, wakes up in the morning and goes to school. It seemed like a normal day for her, with regular things happening with her classmates and studies, but the horror did not begin until later that night.

Before going to bed, she receives a couple of creepy text messages and calls that scare her to death. She keeps her phone aside and goes to sleep, where she sees a bizarre dream. Asuka sees that she, her classmate Gordon, and a few more students are in school during the night.

They see a coffin in the church of the school that looks marked for a dismembered, short-statured body to be placed. Suddenly, they come face-to-face with a demonic entity called "Red Person," who brutally murders every one of them. The appearance of this creature is horrific, and she is called "Red Person" because she is clad in blood and carries a doll.

Even though it was just a dream, they are all trapped in a time loop as this incident keeps happening over and over again. Even with all these tensions and conflicts, there is a sense of unity among the group. They care for each other and work together to overturn the curse and form a loving and trusted relationship with each other.

Re/Member is suspenseful and truly a unique horror/slasher genre. There are extremely gory visuals that can be disturbing for many but are very enjoyable for true fans of the old-school macabre. All the actors managed to do a brilliant job of portraying their respective roles. Expressing fear with humor is a rare phenomenon, and this movie has shed light on it really well.

The official synopsis of the film reads,

“Asuka, Takahiro and four other high schoolers must spend the night finding the scattered remains of a body hidden within their school, or risk being killed over and over by the “Red Person” and repeating the same day forever. Can they break out of the murderous loop and see tomorrow? A deathly exhilarating climax awaits in this ultra-thrilling looping horror experience.”

Re/Member is also packed with several jump scares and good music. The music does feel out of place at times, but it almost looks like it was done on purpose to lighten the mood within the entire ruckus.

Re/Member is a great one-time watch for horror freaks and gore enthusiasts.

---

Re/Member is streaming on Netflix worldwide.