Grotesque 2009

On a tense first date, Aki Miyashita and Kazuo Kojima are abruptly abducted from the street and wake up shackled in a basement whose walls are covered in plastic. A sadistic, enigmatic man takes pleasure in degrading, torturing, and mutilating them, all while maintaining a chilling air of calm sophistication. He punctures, severs, and maims in a calculated sequence, inflicting pain that is intense and controlled, yet he periodically switches to moments of unsettling medical care to prolong their lives for his own disturbing purposes. The torment is brutal and methodical, done with a doctor’s precision and a taste for refinement—he is wealthier and more cultured than his actions would ever suggest, preferring classical music, fine wine, and elegant clothes, with a rotting odor lingering behind his polished exterior.

The captor’s routine alternates between abuse and care, and the pair gradually realize he possesses professional medical training and meticulous habits. He relocates them to a space that resembles a modern, pristine hospital room, where the “doctor” tends to their wounds and speaks with unsettling courtesy about his wealth and future plans. Throughout this ordeal, the couple clings to each other, trying to interpret his motives and seek any possible chance of escape, while the man catalogs every detail of their lives and their relationship as if studying them for a perverse form of gratification.

Eventually, the captor proposes a final, perverse test of love. He suggests that if they can win their freedom by meeting an impossible set of demands, they will be released and he will surrender his fortune as compensation for the suffering inflicted. The plan hinges on an extreme act of endurance and sacrifice, and the tension peaks as the couple confront the reality that their only hope lies in mutual trust and stubborn resolve to endure.

Tragically, the ordeal ends in tragedy. Kazuo succumbs to injuries and exhaustion before the doctor’s final manipulation seals the outcome, and Aki is killed in the climactic confrontation. In the somber epilogue, the killer—who survives despite his grave actions—returns to the road, appearing composed and perfume-scented as he resumes his hunt for another victim. The bodies are finally laid to rest in the quiet forest, their burial marked by the simple presence of a pair of scissors placed atop their graves, a stark symbol of the twisted ritual he has carried out.

The aftermath hints at a chilling endurance of the predator, who remains alive, restless, and ready to seek his next target, even as the world moves forward. This harrowing tale centers on power, control, and the fragile bond between two people who face an unthinkable test together, only to be undone by a calculating, refined killer whose true nature remains hauntingly calm and seemingly unstoppable.