Seance (2001)

Overview
"Seance", likewise called as "Kôrei", is a 2001 Japanese scary movie directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Especially a remake of the British film "Seance on a Wet Afternoon" (1964), the story focuses on a couple, dealing with supernatural components, who get involved in an ominous abduct plot. Stark elements of thriller, thriller, and fear efficiently combine to make "Seance" an appealing narrative.

Plot
The plot centers around a sound results engineer, Koji Yakusho, and his psychic spouse, Junko, who works as a clairvoyant. Due to her capabilities, Junko permits different spirits to utilize her body as a medium of communication. The couple leads an ordinary life till a weird occurrence takes place in a dining establishment, where Junko shows her psychic abilities, affecting some nearby clients. Shortly after, Junko discovers a little woman hiding in their house, who has escaped from home.

In an effort to increase her credibility as a renowned psychic, Junko develops a plan. The couple fakes a kidnapping, planning to return the woman to her parents claiming that Junko's psychic capabilities assisted locate her, hoping this will develop her psychic reliability.

Problems
However, their strategy goes awry when the lady mistakenly passes away in a sealed box where they had actually hidden her. Upon finding the woman's lifeless body, Junko - already being a medium open up to spirits - becomes an unwanted host to the girl's uneasy spirit. The lady's spirit starts haunting the couple, subjecting them to scary occasions and pressing them towards regret and insanity.

Ending
The climax of the film depicts Junko's desperate attempts at exorcising the spirit from her body under intense psychological breakdown. Simultaneously, the cops start to believe the couple's involvement in the lady's disappearance due to a recording that Koji inadvertently left behind at the girl's house during "rescue". Caught in between authorities suspicion and the cruel spirit, they fall prey to their self-created plot, resulting in an awful ending as they catch psychological breakdown and regret.

Theme and Style
"Seance" masterfully utilizes supernatural components instilled with a sober truth to produce an overall cooling environment. The subtle yet efficient depiction of the undetectable, whether it be the lady's strikingly calm presence or the frightening ordeal the couple undergoes due to her haunting, creates a sense of remarkable fear, real to the horror genre. The psychological disintegration of Junko and Koji due to guilt and worry forms the core of the narrative.

The unexpected consequences of their actions and the cooling retaliation of the spirit condemns the couple into a desperate battle to remedy their guilt-ridden past.

Conclusion
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Seance" therefore stands as an engaging mix of scary, adventure, and psychological battle, making it a remarkable entry in the Japanese scary domain. Packed with thriller, regret, and extraordinary fear, the movie examines the hubris causing destruction, overflowing with ethical and mental undertones.

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