Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s big international break is a story about a man and a society in decline – disguised as a serial killer film.
Detective Takabe is confronted with a bizarre string of killings by average citizens suddenly committing brutal murders in identical ways. Horrified by their own deeds, they all confess but don't remember why they did it. A mysterious neighbour gives Takabe his first clue.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s big international break was released a year before Ringu and strongly contributed to the standards of the subsequent wave of J-horror. While Cure shares some of the genre’s visual language, it also offers a new twist on the serial killer narrative, and a reflection on a society losing its bearings. Besides the murders themselves, Cure's long, static shots and minimalist sound design create an air of malevolence, despair and loneliness that permeates the entire film – and became Kurosawa's trademark for much of his career. Kōji Yakusho shines as Takabe, a detective whose sanity disintegrates as society does around him.
On 31 October, Imagine's 2026 Guest of Honour Kiyoshi Kurosawa will be joining us for a Q&A after the screening.
