New Group
This masterfully choreographed Japanese satire on gymnastics formations and conformity surges forward like an absurd nightmare.
Timid highschooler Ai is struggling to survive, let alone grow into an individual, under the crushing social pressure of her conservative school and in her less than ideal home life.
The school’s atmosphere isn’t exactly improved when the student body falls into an inexplicable trance and begins to form a human pyramid that reaches new heights every day. Teachers urge students to join the pyramid, and soon the formations begin to spread outside the school. Ai finds the courage to resist with the support of Yu, a fiercely independent transfer student from abroad.
Impressively choreographed, New Group exhibits none of its protagonist’s shyness and instead presses on like an absurd nightmare. With its Junji Ito-esque macabre imagery and its over-the-top criticism of totalitarianism reminiscent of Battle Royale, the film sketches a grim picture of Japanese society built around conformity and extreme avoidance of social conflict.
The final product is a captivating combination of psychological and body horror, dark humour and grotesque social satire. A delightful addition to the ongoing wave of mindfuck cinema, New Group grips and unsettles its viewer from its very first minutes.
Anni Rossi (translated by Adrian Murtomäki)
Screenings
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Kinopalatsi 7Sat 19.9. at 18.45–20.0782 min, 1/3
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Kinopalatsi 7Mon 21.9. at 20.30–21.5282 min, 2/3
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Bio Rex LasipalatsiSat 26.9. at 21.30–22.5282 min, 3/3
Trailer
