Tomie 1998

In Japan, the police investigate the murder of high school girl Tomie Kawakami, [Miho Kanno]. They learn that in the months following the crime, nine students and one teacher have either committed suicide or gone insane. The detective Tomorowo Taguchi assigned to the case discovers that three years prior another Tomie Kawakami was murdered in rural Gifu prefecture. Across time, other slain Tomie Kawakamis are found tracing a pattern back to the 1860s, right as Japan began to modernize. The investigation leads the detective to Tsukiko Izumisawa, Mami Nakamura, one of Tomie’s classmates. An art student and someone treated for amnesia, Tsukiko has almost no memory of the three-month span surrounding Tomie’s death, and a growing suspicion that something supernatural may be at play. At the same time, Tsukiko’s neighbor hosts a peculiar, baby‑like creature that, over a matter of weeks, matures into a striking teenaged girl with orange eyes—revealing herself to be Tomie Kawakami.

Soon afterward, Tomie begins to seduce Tsukiko’s boyfriend Yuuichi, [Kōta Kusano], stirring tension and danger. Tsukiko, driven to uncover the truth, enters her new neighbor’s apartment to investigate and uncovers a web of fear. When she discovers her friend’s dead body, she is attacked by her landlord, [Ikko Suzuki], and loses consciousness from asphyxiation. She wakes inside her psychiatrist’s office and confronts Tomie once more, who begins a chilling, emotional taunting of Tsukiko, including unflattering selfies and photos with and of her, and even attempts to feed her live cockroaches. The horror escalates when Yuuichi arrives at the scene and murders Tomie. As they bury Tomie’s headless body in the woods, Tomie miraculously returns to life, prompting Tsukiko to flee deeper into the forest and reach a boat dock. Tomie reappears, fully regenerated, and kisses Tsukiko on the lips. The two share a moment of dark laughter as Tsukiko lights a flare and sets Tomie on fire.

Back in ordinary life, Tsukiko appears to move on, continuing her passion for photography and art. Yet a unsettling sign lingers: while developing a self-portrait, she notices a mole under her left eye—identical in shape to Tomie’s. In the mirror, Tsukiko is startled to see Tomie smiling back at her, suggesting that the encounter has left an indelible, uncanny mark on her.