RAGE

RAGE begins with the extremely grisly murder of a suburban couple, brutally slaughtered in their bathroom. As police survey the gory scene, they discover the word “rage” smeared in blood on the wall. They ponder its importance as they work furiously to find justice. A suspect soon emerges, but the hunt becomes impossible when authorities discover he had plastic surgery after committing the crime. As time goes by, all hope begins to fade. It’s here the film forks into three separate stories. Several kind but naïve people find themselves entangled with three strangers, one of whom could be the killer. There’s an innocent young girl who befriends a mysterious backpacker living on a deserted island, a father (Academy Award®-nominee Ken Watanabe) who gives a job to an odd man who’s dating his ex-prostitute daughter, and a closeted playboy who meets a silent vagabond at a bathhouse and invites him to move in. For one of these individuals, their kindness will shift to dangerous gullibility. A nail-biter to the end, this dramatic thriller deals with some serious trust issues. (In Japanese with subtitles) —E.F.