New Group

If Invasion of the Body Snatchers traded pods for human pyramids and took place in a Japanese high school, it would be New Group.

Ai is an ordinary schoolgirl easily swayed by the opinions of her peers. But her worldview begins to change with the arrival of nonconformist newcomer Yu, who returns from living abroad just in time to witness a series of unexplained events taking hold in their community. The bizarre phenomenon begins with a student freezing on all fours in the middle of a soccer field; soon, others join in, positioning themselves alongside and on top of him. Before long, the entire town is overrun with human pyramids. In a world where no one is safe from these random gymnastic formations—or the self-styled fascist leadership aligning itself with these “new groups”—Ai and Yu must renounce individualism and assimilate or face destruction.

A disarming and strange second feature from director Yûta Shimotsu, New Group takes body horror in grotesque directions to create an eerie new entry in the contemporary J-horror canon. The uncanny contortions gleefully captured by the filmmaker’s kinetic camera are both funny and disturbing—but the film’s astute commentary on the rise of authoritarianism in today’s world is what’s most unsettling.

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