⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Intensity:🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
In keeping with the latest trend in J-Horror, Bldg. N (a.k.a., N-Goto) is based on true events that happened at an apartment complex in Gifu Prefecture back in 2000. Ghosts! Cultists! Corpses! Hooray!
Written/Directed by Yôsuke Gotô
Bldg. N opens with a definition for “thanatophobia”.
Shiori [Minori Hagiwara; Nare no hate (2021)], a young woman attending the local college, suffers from this irrational fear; so much so that it keeps her up at night. Her obsession has driven her to take classes on the philosophies of life & death and tends to distract her even during waking hours.
When her ex-boyfriend, Keita [Yuki Kura; Kappei (2022)], casually mentions that he’s working on a horror movie for his graduation project, Shiori eagerly agrees to join him for some location scouting at an abandoned — and supposedly haunted — appartment complex on the outskirts of the city. After adding mutual friend (and Keita’s current girlfriend), Maho [Kasumi Yamaya; Fake Plastic Planet (2019)], to the mix, the trio sets off for the spooky locale.
Upon arrival, they quickly discover that rumors of the apartment complex’s abandonment have been greatly exaggerated. Dilapidated, yes, but Bldg N appears to be home to an odd assortment of folks. When Shiori discovers that the denizens fervently believe in ghosts — and, by necessity, that human existence continues after death — her desperate need to avoid fading away into nothingness kicks in. Hard.
The most common critique against Bldg. N is that it suffers from what movie critic Roger Ebert called “the idiot plot”. As in, the plot is maintained solely because the main characters are idiots. Chances to escape are ignored and unnecessary risks are taken. Things that rational characters wouldn’t have done and seem to only be in the film to keep things moving forward.
However, these critics are forgetting the opening quote. Thanatophobia. Which, by definition, is an overpowering, irrational, and deep seated anxiety that afflicts our main character, Shiori. If you add in her social position as the most dominant personality — albeit an extremely self-centered one — in the trio of friends? She’s absolutely going to be diving head first into an investigation of possible life after death and she’ll be dragging her hapless companions along with her. Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.
The performances in Bldg. N are decent enough and it’s easy to see why Minori Hagiwara was given the lead role. As tiny as she is, Hagiwara commands a large onscreen presence making her more than believable as the Alpha Female in her trio of college pals.
Production quality is high with great sound work in spite of the varied filming locations. It looks like the team primarily went with practical effects as well for all the ghosty psychic phenomena which was a nice touch. There’s not a lot of gore — some pooling blood here, a dead body there — in keeping with the film’s “ghost story” feel, but what they do show is done well.
That’s not to say Bldg. N isn’t flawed. Pacing drags at times, the behavior of the apartment’s inhabitants doesn’t always make sense, and the third act kinda devolves into a mish-mashed and not super satisfying conclusion. But if you like a decent Japanese ghost story and don’t mind that it’s not Oscar quality, you could do a lot worse.
Bldg. N recently enjoyed it’s Korean premiere at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.
Review by Robert Zilbauer.