A Feast Of Unsettling, Twisting Haunts

Takashi Shimizu breaks haunting ground in The Mouths, a twisting haunting that will have you questioning the validity of what’s being shared. That is the point in this adaptation of Sesuji’s “A Questionnaire About The Mouth.” Can we really trust what’s being said to us, even if it’s meant to be in confidence? While The Mouths loses some of its grip the more elements are added to the mix, there is a fascinating haunting here, especially when reviewers realize that we are extensions of the curse in our recollections of the tale in text. 

The Mouths follows university student Shota (Rihito Itagaki) and his friends, Mirei (Momona Kasahara), Tatsuya (Keito Tsuna), and An (Ai Yoshikawa) on their way to tackle a bravery test. Located in the middle of nowhere, deep within a cemetery, is a cursed tree, where a female ghost may arise if the circumstances are right. One by one, the two men approach the tree, but when An does, something unexpected happens, and she begins to act like someone else entirely. 

The image of An climbing to the top of the tree, crazed, is striking, with Ai Yoshikawa’s eyes bulging in her mania as her An repeats the phrase, “Devour.” After this incident, An disappears, creating the mystery that drives the bulk of the plot in The Mouths. As each of the students is interviewed, Shimizu crafts distinctly chilling moments of terror, a reminder that not all scares need to be delivered in in-your-face fashion. From the macabre crunch of a crushed cicada to the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it body swinging into view, Shimizu does much with little.

The Mouths successfully builds a chilling, haunting mystery before the narrative grows muddled.

When more characters come into the story, the mystery grows confusing as more perspectives muddy the waters. As the audience surrogate, Detective Kusakabe (Shido Nakamura) leans into this confusion as he too is lured in by the ever-evolving mystery and is the first to point out how things are no longer lining up. But with so many people involved in the case surrounding a cursed tree, lines blur, and reality clashes with the lies often told to protect from the truth. 

Central to this is the confessional-style nature of our moments with each student. Shot against a black screen, framed as an interrogation, each student gets their spot to shape the narrative based on their perspective. At opportune moments where the narrative might distort, the camera homes in on the mouth, a vehicle of communication and, perhaps, a tool of deceit. Through their words, all transform how Kusakabe (and the audience) perceives An.

Even when the narrative bites off more than it can chew in its final act, The Mouths is undeniably led by the strength of everyone’s performance. As the woman at the center of the film’s ensuing mystery, Ai Yoshikawa plays both sides of An perfectly. At once, she is flirtatious, the woman everyone wants to covet, and with the knowledge that she knows this. Yet, after the events at the cursed tree, Yoshikawa does a full 180, stripping what we knew of An down to an uglier, messier, more primal self. She’s terrifying to behold, and yet you can’t look away.

Even when it loses its footing in its third act, The Mouths is just unsettling.

As the witnesses to An’s subsequent unraveling, Shota and Tatsuya benefit from more characterization thanks to their personal connection to An. Mirei, in comparison, pales. Initially designated as the “psychic” among the group, she is ultimately more of an outlier than an active part of it. It’s a shame because, once the biggest reveal is shown in the final act of The Mouths, Momona Kasahara shows more emotional range than she’s been given a chance to express.

With that said, the performances on display from most of the cast, many of whom are presented against a black screen with nowhere to hide even the slightest muscle tick, are captivating and, occasionally, uncomfortable to witness. Rihito Itagaki, in particular, goes through a whole breakdown process in his performance as Shota, stripping down the layers the further along the narrative goes, before everything catches up to him. It makes for an intriguing watch and is oh-so-satisfying, helping smooth over some of the story’s bumps.

There’s no denying that The Mouths will get under your skin. From the use of sound, particularly the unnerving call of the cicadas, to the unsettling performances and subtle yet memorable scares, the film is a reminder of just how masterful Takashi Shimizu is at horror. It may not have the strongest ending, with more questions arising than answers, but it certainly won’t leave the mind easily.

The Mouths had its North American premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival.