Chime 2024

Thriller

Horror

Box Office

$165K

Runtime

45 mins

Language

Japanese

Directed by

Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Made by

Roadstead

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Chime Plot Summary

Read the complete plot summary and ending explained for Chime (2024). From turning points to emotional moments, uncover what really happened and why it matters.

Takuji Matsuoka is a cooking teacher whose daily routine appears calm on the surface, but a darker tension begins to thread through his lessons. While most students in his class are able to cook calmly and complete their tasks, Ichiro Tashiro is distant from the rest, and struggles to finish his work. Tashiro asks if he can hear a chime, claiming it is a message meant for him, and Matsuoka brushes off the remark, leaving the moment tense before fading into the ordinary rhythm of the classroom.

As Matsuoka is leaving school, another student informs him that Tashiro asked for his address, a request they refuse to share. Later, Matsuoka attends a job interview at a restaurant, telling the interviewer that he would quit his teaching job if offered the position. The next lesson brings a troubling escalation: Tashiro explains that a surgery has replaced half of his brain with a machine, supposedly guiding his actions on behalf of the chime. In a shocking attempt to prove the claim, he cuts into his own head with a knife and dies, the scene unfolding with a clinical, almost detached finality. After a detective interviews those present, Matsuoka returns home and shares a quiet meal with his family, choosing not to reveal what has occurred.

In another lesson, Matsuoka teaches Akemi a method for butcher’s work, showing how to gut and prepare a chicken. Akemi refuses to follow his method, and in a chilling moment Matsuoka stabs her to death with a cold, emotionless precision. He then conceals her body inside a sleeping bag and buries it in the countryside, the act passing as if it were a routine part of a lesson rather than a murder. When he returns to school the next day, a detective has returned to investigate Akemi’s disappearance. A second student rushes downstairs, insisting that Akemi is upstairs waiting for him, and the two hurry up, only to find an empty chair where Akemi was supposed to be. Something near the chair frightens the student, who bolts from the room, and a few seconds later Matsuoka experiences the same fear and flees as well.

Outside, the detective confronts him and notices blood on Matsuoka’s hand, which is explained away as a kitchen accident. He goes back to the restaurant for a second interview, where he rants about himself and is ultimately rejected for the job. At home, tensions mount as Matsuoka argues with his son over money and contemplates harming him. He moves through the house in a state of torment, and the intercom rings without showing who is on the other side. A second ring yields no answer at the door, and Matsuoka wanders the street before returning home, haunted by the sequence of events that have begun to unravel his life.

Chime Timeline

Follow the complete movie timeline of Chime (2024) with every major event in chronological order. Great for understanding complex plots and story progression.

Matsuoka's first day teaching

Matsuoka leads a cooking class as most students complete tasks calmly. One student, Tashiro, remains distant and struggles to focus on the lesson. Tashiro mentions hearing a strange 'chime', which unsettles Matsuoka.

Opening class School classroom

Tashiro's chime and request for address

Tashiro tells Matsuoka that he can hear a chime that feels like a message for him. A different student informs that Tashiro asked for Matsuoka's address, which was refused. The exchange hints at a disturbing link between the chime and Tashiro's behavior.

After class School

Job interview stress

Matsuoka attends a job interview at a restaurant, and tells the interviewer he will quit his teaching job if hired. He frames the interview as a step toward a new start. The conversation foreshadows a potential escape from his current life.

Later that day Restaurant

Tashiro's extreme revelation and suicide

In the next lesson, Tashiro claims a surgery has replaced half his brain with a machine that follows the chime. He tries to prove this belief in a drastic act and ends his life by cutting into his head. The room is left in stunned silence as the truth of his words sinks in.

During class School classroom

Detective interview and quiet home life

A detective questions the people involved regarding Tashiro's death. Later, Matsuoka returns home and shares a quiet meal with his family, deliberately keeping the events to himself. The scene underscores his emotional distance from others.

Evening after interview Home

Akemi's chicken lesson ends in tragedy

Matsuoka demonstrates how to butcher a chicken to Akemi. She refuses to follow his method, and he abruptly stabs her to death. He hides her body in a sleeping bag and buries it in the countryside, marking a brutal turn in his behavior.

During class School kitchen

Investigation closes in on Akemi's disappearance

The next day, the detective returns to the investigation while a student reports Akemi might be upstairs waiting for Matsuoka. He and another student rush upstairs, only to find an empty chair and a terrified student. The moment heightens the sense that something sinister lingers in the room.

Next day School

Blood on his hand and questions from the detective

Outside the school, the detective confronts Matsuoka and notices blood on his hand, suggesting involvement in the events. The exchange intensifies the detective's suspicion. Matsuoka's fear grows as the questions mount.

After upstairs incident Outside the school

Second restaurant interview and tension

Matsuoka returns for a second interview at the restaurant, ranting about his life and frustrations. He is ultimately refused, revealing his mounting instability. The rejection reinforces his growing isolation from his world.

Second interview Restaurant

A violent disruption in the restaurant

During the second interview, a customer at another table makes a violent move and attempts to stab someone, but staff restrain him. The scene adds chaos to Matsuoka's already tense surroundings. He remains detached, observing the chaos with little emotion.

During interview Restaurant

Home confrontation and fatal contemplation

Back home, Matsuoka argues with his son over money and contemplates killing him. He paces around the house, engulfed by dark thoughts and a deteriorating grip on reality. The domestic tension foreshadows a deeper collapse.

Evening Home

The unnerving ring and empty doorway

An intercom rings at the house twice, yet there is no one at the door. He goes outside to look, finds no visitor, and wanders the empty street before returning home. The sequence emphasizes his isolation and the mystery surrounding his fate.

Night Home and street

Chime Characters

Explore all characters from Chime (2024). Get detailed profiles with their roles, arcs, and key relationships explained.

Takuji Matsuoka (Mutsuo Yoshioka)

A calm, disciplined cooking teacher who maintains emotional distance. He becomes disturbingly capable of brutality, revealing a hidden volatility beneath his composed exterior. His actions demonstrate a chilling mastery of control in both professional and domestic spaces.

❄️ Reserved 🗡️ Violent 🧠 Analytical

Haruko Matsuoka (Tomoko Tabata)

Matsuoka's domestic partner and family presence who anchors his personal life. She represents ordinary family life amidst growing tension, often caught between concern and denial as the events unfold. Her perspective highlights the strain between private harmony and the looming threat.

🌸 Domestic 💬 Supportive 🧭 Pragmatic

Ichiro Tashiro (Seiichi Kohinata)

A distant student who voices a belief that a surgery replaced half his brain with a machine to obey the chime. He is unsettled, increasingly aggressive, and becomes a key catalyst in the story’s escalation. His fixation on the chime reveals a fragile grip on reality.

🧠 Disturbed 🔗 Isolation

Akemi Hishida (Hana Amano)

A student who challenges Matsuoka's methods and refuses to follow his extreme example. Her defiance leads to a brutal murder when she is silenced and buried, marking a turning point in the narrative. Her disappearance triggers the detective's investigation and heightens tension.

📚 Student 🔪 Target 🤝 Defiant

Kenichi Matsuoka (Koki Ishige)

Matsuoka's son, who appears in the family dynamic and asks for money, illustrating the fragility of domestic life under stress. His presence underscores the potential consequences of the father’s unraveling in the intimate circle of home. He serves as a mirror to the protagonist's troubled psyche.

👦 Son ⚖️ Strained family dynamics

Chime Settings

Learn where and when Chime (2024) takes place. Explore the film’s settings, era, and how they shape the narrative.

Time period

Contemporary

The events unfold in a contemporary setting—modern kitchens, job interviews, and family life. The story relies on familiar, everyday spaces to anchor a disturbing psychological tale. The interplay between ordinary routines and an escalating threat drives the tension throughout the film.

Location

Cooking School, Restaurant, Countryside

The primary setting is a formal cooking school where students learn precision and discipline. The restaurant interview scenes introduce a professional world that values control and perfection. The countryside sequences ground the story in a quiet, rural space where secrets begin to surface, complementing the urban kitchen drama.

🏫 Cooking School 🍽️ Restaurant 🌾 Countryside

Chime Themes

Discover the main themes in Chime (2024). Analyze the deeper meanings, emotional layers, and social commentary behind the film.

🧭

Obsession

A central fixation drives the narrative: a need for control, secrecy, and personal validation. The enigmatic ‘chime’ becomes a metaphor for an inward pull that isolates the characters from others. The plot follows how obsession distorts morality and culminates in shocking violence. The film uses precise culinary imagery to symbolize precision and control.

🔪

Violence

The story escalates from psychological threat to explicit murder. The kitchen setting reframes routine tasks as brutal acts, amplifying the sense of danger. Characters confront the consequences of their actions in a world where trust collapses. The violence is depicted with clinical detachment to emphasize psychological collapse.

🌀

Perception

Reality and perception blur as the characters wrestle with the ‘chime’ and the implanted machine. The narrative leaves questions unanswered, inviting viewers to question what is real. Suspense arises from what the protagonist reveals and what remains hidden. The film invites reflection on sanity and the boundaries between thought and action.

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Chime Spoiler-Free Summary

Discover the spoiler-free summary of Chime (2024). Get a concise overview without any spoilers.

In the quiet rhythm of a suburban culinary school, Takuji Matsuoka moves through his days teaching the fundamentals of cooking with a calm, methodical grace. The classroom hums with the clatter of pans and the soft murmur of students, each lesson a small ritual that seems to anchor both teacher and pupils in a world where precision matters more than imagination. Yet beneath the surface of this ordinary routine, an unsettling presence begins to make itself known: a faint, persistent chime that seems to echo only for certain ears.

Among the students, one stands apart—Ichiro Tashiro—whose distant demeanor and lingering questions hint at a deeper disconnect from the collective. When he mentions hearing the mysterious chime, referring to it as a personal message, the atmosphere tightens, and Matsuoka finds his practiced composure tested by an unspoken unease. The chime, though never fully explained, functions as a subtle catalyst, turning routine moments into something precarious, as if each strike of the bell draws a thin veil back, revealing shadows that have always lingered just out of sight.

The film’s tone balances the comforting familiarity of a kitchen’s heat with an ever‑growing sense of dread. Cinematic lighting shifts from warm, inviting tones to cooler, more austere palettes as the chime’s influence spreads, mirroring Matsuoka’s internal shift from confidence to quiet apprehension. The setting—schools, homes, quiet streets—remains ordinary, making the emerging tension feel all the more invasive and personal.

As Matsuoka navigates the increasingly strained dynamics of his classroom and his own household, the narrative asks what happens when the ordinary is pierced by an inexplicable sound. The story invites viewers to linger on the unease of everyday life being disturbed, leaving the true nature of the chime—and its impact on those who hear it—deliberately out of reach.

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