REAL

Atsumi is the creator of the popular comic Roomi, a grotesque story about a psychopath who commits inventive and gruesome murders. But deadlines and writers block have taken their toll. Atsumi tries to commit suicide and ends up in a coma. Her treating physician is Dr. Aihara. He has developed a revolutionary technique with which you can make a telepathic connection with someone’s subconsciousness. Her boyfriend Koichi volunteers for the procedure. He links with Atsumi’s mind and finds himself in a fancy apartment where he can communicate with her. When he’s back in the real world, Koichi is troubled by what Dr. Aihara calls “philosophical ghosts”, side effects of his technique. But one of the ghosts, the vague figure of a boy, seems frightfully real. Back in Atsumi’ subconscious, they travel to Hikoni, the island where they met one another as children. Slowly but surely, the source of Atsumi’s fears takes on shape. Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a grandmaster of psychological horror. He proved that with cult classics such as Cure and Pulse. Real, an adaptation of Rokuro Inui’s novel A Perfect Day For A Pleisiosaur, is his first long feature after the success of his television series Penance. He guides us through a story of repressed memories and alternate realities, where the border between what’s real and what’s not is frightfully thin. Starring Haruka Ayase (Ichi, Cyborg Girl) as Atsumi, Takeru Satu (Rurouni Kenshin) as Koichi and Joe Odagiri (Shinobi, Bright Future) as Dr. Aihara.