ONPAKU
Tokyo is a mere five-hour flight from Hong Kong but it is a totally different world. Sarah (Josie Ho) has come to Japan seeking to buy an investment property and to have a brief and restful holiday after a bad break-up with her boyfriend. Everything has been precisely arranged in advance; from the schedule, to the hotel, to the real estate broker and the site visits.
Immediately after her arrival things start to go terribly wrong. It turns out that the real estate agent who picks her up at the airport (Lawrence Chou) unexpectedly and uncomfortably is someone she knows from her past. Then she is informed that due to a reservation error her hotel booking has been cancelled and because the US President is visiting Tokyo, all the other hotels are full. With Sarah unable to get a new reservation and after turning down the chance to stay in a love hotel, the real estate company places her in a minipaku, a private residence rented out to short term guests. However, this minpaku is seemingly abandoned and looks very dilapidated, menacing and creepy. When Sarah checks in, she finds that it's run by an elderly woman (Kazuko Shirakawa) who bizarrely seems to recognize her and in fact seems to have been expecting her. So do some of the other guests.
Her first night there is disturbing and frightful, the stuff nightmares are made of. Despite her protests and insistence when she tries to leave in the morning, she learns that she will need to stay there for at least a few days until a more suitable hotel is available. What Sarah doesn't know is that this is a house with a very mysterious, violent and unclear history that is somehow connected to her.
Unbeknownst to Sarah, this minpaku is under active investigation by the police owing to the recent disappearance of a journalist who was investigating the house because of some strange incidents. In particular a full skeleton had been found under the floorboards- and more strangely it was infested with a particularly virulent parasite that had consumed it from the inside out.
Lead detective (Kazuya Takahashi) who has been dealing with personal issues that have virtually destroyed his career, believes there is more to this place than meets the eye. If he can break this case he might be able to resurrect his career. The detective's sister, a forensic scientist also working for the police department at first doubts his interest in the matter but then gets drawn into the case-only to end up dead.
Sarah's trip is proving to be anything but restful and relaxing. When the lights go out at the minpaku, grisly and disturbing visions beset her. They become more and more real --including some that involve her late mother who also had lived in Japan for a period of time.
With things beginning to go way off plan, her visit to Japan is turning into a horrific and bizarre nightmare. When the innkeeper suggests that Sarah might be pregnant and that she has come back "home" to give birth we are left to wonder if this is the beginning or the end-- of a hell that will consume her.
Director
Shugo Fujii
Cast
Josie Ho, Lawrence Chou, Kazuya Takahashi, Kazuko Shirakawa
Release Date
31-08-2023
Language
Cantonese, Japanese(In Parts), English(In Parts)
Run Time
99 minutes
