REVIEW: ‘House of Sayuri’ Is An Absolute Mystery

Directed by Koji Shiraishi and written by Mari Asato, Rensuke Oshikiri, and Shiraishi, House of Sayuri blends horror and comedy to tell a story of revenge. A ghost story at the start, the film centers on the Kamikis, a family that has worked hard to own a home. When they buy their dream home, the quiet countryside home ends up being more dangerous than anyone could have thought.

At first, the house is just old and weird, but it’s not enough to throw the family off-kilter. That is until a vengeful spirit of a murdered girl begins to terrorize them. As the girl ramps up her haunting, peace is far from the family’s grasp. Instead, they have eerie voices, possessions, and a whole lot of violence. One by one, things turn violent and inexplicable accidents happen to everyone in the house except Norio and his grandma.

With no protection, his grandma transforms into a force that won’t let the ghost take their home or her last grandchild. This is shown in part by training to expel evil spirits and the other part by investigating the truth behind the little girl’s murder. The goals are to learn why she’s stuck, free her, and maybe fight her in the process.

The first half of House of Sayuri is truly chilling. The use of light and shadow in the house crafts an untrusting and oppressive atmosphere. The jump scares land without feeling cheap, and the script holds no punches. It’s the start of a fantastic horror film, and it doesn’t show you everything about the spirits in the home other than that they’re there, warping the world around them and enacting violence. There are layers to the film’s use of darkness and intimidation. As each family member is attacked, Norio becomes increasingly isolated.

Ryoka Minamide’s performance as Norio holds the film together even when the narrative gets unwieldy. His fear and anger resonate, and when he trains with his grandmother, he’s just plain funny. That said, the first half of the film is where all of its real strength is.

While the film continues to build a tragic story for the haunting itself, it also suffers from extreme tonal whiplash. At times, it’s comedic without going into the land of camp, and other times, the campiness is applaudable. But the inconsistency in tonal changes makes it feel like you’re running over speed bumps at full speed and disrupts the emotional payoff of the film’s third act.

The story’s reveals in the final act are devastating and involve extremely serious subject matter. The film adjusts its tone and cinematography to match that. But the emotion is immediately undercut when the camp switch flips, and it’s almost like we didn’t just sit through the tragedy right before.

Ultimately, the film’s absurdity works on its own, but things feel hollow when sandwiched between genuinely gripping moments. House of Sayuri has a good revenge story, a good haunted house story, and a funny coming-of-age story. How the film juggles it all leaves the audience unsure of how they’re supposed to feel or, more importantly, when they’re supposed to laugh. House of Sayuri is interesting, scary, and funny, but its real flaw is the lack of balance in how it transitions through its Rolodex of emotions.

House of Sayuri screened as a part of The Fantasia International Festival in 2024.