Kotoko

Tormented by frightening visions, a single mother who struggles to take care of herself and her newborn child realizes that the key to figuring out how to save herself is with a new relationship only to realize her madness hasn't left her and is always close to being fully unleashed on others.

This was a fantastic effort with a lot to enjoy about it. One of the finest aspects of the film is the strength of the central character who has so much going on that she's worthy of being this kind of central figure. Being given such a strong personality, the film gets quite a lot of mileage out of her. The torment she feels trying to raise her child alone in the city causes such stress and frustration that she frequently daydreams about killing it to start her life over, so the peace and tranquility she feels being around her sister out in the countryside is a welcome relief contrasting with the cold city scenes. To top it off, she also struggles with an ability to separate fantasy from reality where she constantly imagines evil doppelgangers of those around her who often viciously attack her that forces her into a self-destructive pattern of self-mutilation and creates an overall frantic central premise here. Still, this one doesn't forget it's a horror film at its heart so there are plenty of fantastic scares here. These revolve around the doppelganger attacks which are striking and utterly haunting here with frantic editing, chaotic sounds blaring along through the sequence and a dark intent behind them rushing towards her, these scenes leave a strong impression with the feverish intent and frequency that they're featured in the first half. There's a brutality on display here with the way these occur which gives this a striking tone and feel that goes hand-in-hand with the madness she displays, which is furthered by the scenes of her cutting herself or the way she beats up those that try to get between her and child as this is quite the dark and frantic tale. While these here offer up plenty to like, the film does have a few minor issues on display. The vast majority of the film is a character study so those expecting traditional jump-scares or slashings will be disappointed. This takes it's time to tell this story, so although the horror scenes do occur and are absolutely stellar during those times, frankly the film doesn't have that much else going on. It still moves along well but it's mostly brief spurts of action followed by other scenes that focus on her madness and lost sanity so the action doesn't get featured here at all. This can leave the film feeling dull for long stretches of time to some which really is the main problem.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language and scenes of violence towards children.

Almost as difficult to write about, as to watch, this harrowing film is a nightmare from start to finish. Single mother, Kotoko is played by Cocco, who we understand co-wrote the film basing it on her own experiences. Some experiences they must have been, too, if this is to be believed. For some considerable stretch she is struggling inside and out the house carrying, awkwardly, her screaming child. The next phase seems to involve real or imagined violence upon this child. All the time the camera, our viewpoint, is skewed and uneven as the sound around deafens. And all the time the lead lady is self harming, in a big way. As if this were not enough the film's director and co-writer also appears and attempts a relationship with this ongoing nightmare, crazy lady. Uncompromising, as ever, this is quite different from Tsukamoto's other work but then I guess that remarkably they are all quite distinctive with just the one thing in common that makes them his own and makes them so difficult to watch. This is raw and desperate humanity desperately trying to maintain the slenderest grip on something the least bit tolerable in the face of rampant madness.

As harrowing as it is heartbreaking, Kotoko concerns a single mother struggling to raise her infant child due to her deteriorating mental illness, and delivers moments of pure terror by blurring the lines between reality & imagination throughout its runtime. A hallucinatory horror drama packed with violent episodes that erupt without warning, the film navigates motherhood, loneliness, nervous breakdowns, toxic relationship, self-harm & more with a confounding narrative that neither makes sense nor carries enough weight and leaves the viewers with more questions than answers in the end. Cocco's unhinged performance in the titular role does much of the heavy lifting here but the film as a whole requires more than one viewing to properly unearth its multitudes of layers & mysteries.

It's an uneasy film to watch it starts off quite shaky and gets worse as her sanity drops and the film gets very intense when it builds back up the shakiness is gone. Then everything seems pleasant and happy it has quite surreal elements and dream like scenes I wasn't a fan of the constant singing but its important to the character that she sings. There is some uneasy imagery during the breakdown sequences that will stay with you but the movie has a relieving conclusion not the happiest but the best possible outcome. The acting is top notch and you really feel for the character and her family. I didn't understand some things so I may need to re-watch not your average tsukamoto film but definitely a good drama about a devoted mother with a dissociative disorder.

Tsukamoto's "Kotoko" is a disturbing, Heartbraking, and shocking masterpiece, with great images and cinematography.

This film describes the nervous breakdown of a single mother, who suffers from severe mental problems, such as paranoia, double vision, anxiety and deep depression.

Her mental state is shown very differently throughout the film. Her state gets better, when she sings or is near her son, otherwise she is paranoid, anxious, and self harming.

Throughout the whole film, her state gets all the way worse, represented in both shocking, and beautiful images.

Cocco's acting is phenomenal. As a viewer, you can really feel what she is going through. When she is singing in her soft and calm voice, you can really calm down for a while, otherwise you are in a state of constant discomfort.

The camera shows off her mental health in either a really shaky, or a really calm camera work.

The film has no soundtrack, but thats not necessary at all.

This film is not for sensitive persons, it shows shocking and disturbing images of self harming and paranoid behaviours. This film needs your whole attention, otherwise you dont get into it.

Story: 10/10 Acting: 10/10 Cinematography: 10/10 Camera: 10/10 (If you dont like shaky, found footage like movies, dont watch this)

Total score: 10.