3. Confessions (2010)
Teacher Yuko stands in front of the class and announces she is going to resign. She explains that Student A and Student B in her class killed her 3 year old daughter and now in revenge she has infected the milk they just drank with HIV infected blood. From the disgusted response of the two boys, it is obvious who the killers are. Because her husband was ill with HIV, Yuko had brought her daughter to school to play in an empty classroom while she taught in another room. One day, the child was gone and her body turned up floating in the swimming pool. A student admits to killing the child and when she shows compassion at his remorse, he laughs in her face. When her hubby dies a few months later she puts her plan into action. Naoki, one of the murderers, hides himself away from the world and becomes a deranged recluse who is arrested for his mother's murder. Shuya, the other murderer states that his mother abused him before abandoning him to pursue a lucrative and prestigious scientific career. Shuya could then focus on his own scientific projects - one of which was an electrocuting machine. Shuya and Naoki lure Yuko's daughter to the pool and electrocute her. She doesn't die but Naoki impulsively throws her into the pool after Shuya goes. Shuya gets involved with a deranged girl called Mizuki. He kills her after an argument over him having an oedipus complex. Shuya plants a bomb at his high school where the graduation is to be held. His mother has remarried and he thinks she has forgotten about him. However, Yuko gets to the bomb and relocates it to Shuya's mother's office. Bang goes the bomb. Shuya is crying his eyes out when Yuko comes up to him and says it was revenge but his redemption will begin now. Shuya looks relieved and Yuko says "Just kidding" - echoing Shuya's brazen mocking of her after he told her he had killed her child. Confessions is an immensely clever film and intensely Japanese. It is hard to imagine another country coming up with such an interesting premise for a film (although the film was based on a book) and executing it in such a perfect manner. The acting is marvellous. Shuya thinks he has got one over on Yuko and his callousness is horrible. He truly is a psychopath. But when Yuko executes her final revenge, it is so satisfying to see him on his knees crying like a little girl. The film is intensely absorbing and does not play like a conventional horror film - which is probably part of its appeal. It is definitely one for J-Horror or horror film fans in general to watch, but be prepared for something wonderfully different.