Illness Leading to Death Penalty (2022)

What makes us human?

Nowadays, good psychological thrillers are like the money you have left at the end of the month; not enough.
And here we have Lesson in Murder that not only managed to be compelling from beginning to end, but also had the ideal dark atmosphere that a film in this genre must have.

As a fun of ''darker films'' (and as a way to defy my parents when I was young) I have watched my fair share of disturbing/bloody scenes and I no longer get shocked easily.
However, in some peculiar way this film managed to disturb me, even though it didn't have neither the most bloody nor the most disturbing scenes I have watched (especially make-up wise).

Is the blood and human despair enough to make a good psychological thriller though? Certainly not. There is also acting, directing and an actual -non bloody- plot. But let's start from the beginning.

Abe Sadawo that portrayed the serial killer Haimura was simply phenomenal. His facial expressions in combination with his emotionless eyes was just a disturbing image in itself. It literally felt like I was watching an emotionless shell trying to be compassionate. Mizukami Koshi also did a pretty good job in his role as well as (most of) the rest of the cast.

Plot wise the movie was complex and intriguing enough without being hard to understand. It managed to explore the darkest corners of the human mind, without trying too hard and it had a great balance between plot and characters. I would definitely recommend to anyone that may be reading this to not watch the trailer or read the whole synopsis before watching it.

And there is something else I personally loved and I know that most of the times it can end up being a disaster. I am talking about the so called ''filler scenes''. The movie had some scenes that seem unecessary at first, but as the film progressed everything ended up being equally important.

Last, but certainly not least, the directing and cinematography were great. They gave the film that last spice that was needed to make it better than your average psychological thriller. It was dark, but not too dark, disturbing without trying too hard, symbolic without being too on the nose.

Even though it is not flawless, mostly when it comes to the make up/hairstyling department and some deliberate misdirections, the film ticked all the right boxes -dark atmosphere, engaging plot, good acting- that definitely differentiates it from many movies in the same genre and personally speaking it has just been way too long since I watched something this satisfying.

P.S. To my fellow Through the Darkness and Beyond Evil lovers, you will enjoy this a lot!

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