Fear-fare fans, you need to acquaint yourselves with Japanese director Mai Nakanishi. This will be easy to do as her third short film as a director, Border (2023), will be available on Shudder from July 2–31 in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. after screening at Etheria Film Festival in Kansas City on July 1, 2023.
South Korean/Japanese coproduction Border concerns a young woman (Juhee Lee) relaxing at home, watching an episode of a Korean drama. The proceedings take a sinister turn in a decidedly unusual variation on home invasion horror.
Though Nakanishi — who serves here as writer, director, editor, and visual effects artist — worked with a limited budget, she scored big by landing the services of Monofoley Sound Works, the sound design team behind Korean horror feature The Wailing and Chae-Young Yoon, the music composer from the Korean television series SKY Castle. Nakanishi, who has stated her interest in the importance of diversity and representations in films and behind the camera, also worked with a crew consisting of more than 50% women.
Following the supernatural jaw-dropper Hana (2018) and last year’s award-winning occult shocker Swallow, Nakanishi is set to find her widest audience yet with Border. Make sure you are part of that group!
