Villain gets off to a mysterious start, emphasised by a haunting score courtesy of Joe Hisaishi. But what follows is not a mystery, but rather a sparse, cold, slow burning drama/thriller, out to show how pretty much everyone is, or has been, a villain in some way, to somebody.
Yoshino is a fun-loving twenty-something with a bottle blonde fuck buddy – Yuichi. When Yoshino blows off Yuichi to hop into floppy-haired ass hat Masuo’s car, blondie is understandably cheesed off and tails them. Unbeknownst to Yoshino, Masuo doesn’t fancy her back; in fact he doesn’t like her, or her garlic breath, one bit and boots her out the car.
Lucky that Yuichi was tailing them or she’d be stuck in the middle of nowhere, right? Yoshino doesn’t see it that way and her and her bruised ego unload a torrent of abuse at Yuichi, who promptly kills her and throws her over a cliff.
With the fuzz closing in, Yuichi goes on the lamb with another girl, who can’t help falling in love with him – no matter shoddily he treats her. Meanwhile, Yoshino’s folks must do what they have to, to come to terms with the murder of their daughter. Likewise Yuichi’s grandma who raised him must somehow get a handle on her surrogate son’s actions, as well as a dastardly doctor intent on diddling her out of her savings.
Despite its moniker, there is no clear-cut bad guy in Villain. Everyone is some kind of a jerk and everyone’s villainous actions pay it forward, making life no fun for anyone. No matter how alright any character seems, we soon see how they too can be construed as a villain, with only two out of ten characters making it to the credits in the good books. In my eyes anyway. The interesting thing about Villain is that it feels like a film that can be viewed very differently depending on the viewer, their experiences, their attitudes, their morals and their mood.
Thoughtful, precise and at times profound, this is no picnic – but it IS altogether more satisfying than some hummus and a cheese sandwich. Villain is an intelligent and engaging experience, a thriller flirting with melodrama that takes its sweet time building to a tragic and emotionally devastating finale.
Villain is on limited release from Friday the 19th August. If you’re a Londoner, the ICA is your best bet. Also, the company releasing Villain, Third Window, were stitched up when some of those looting scum bags torched Sony DADC and most of Third Window’s stock. If you go here, you can show ‘em support by being all futuristic and shit and watching one of their films online. Or go here, and order direct from their Amazon. I personally recommend the barking and brightly coloured Kamikaze Girls, or the best film of last year’s Fright Fest All Nighter: Confessions.
Film Rating: 
