Movie Reviews

Labyrinth Anime Film Review

Published

1 month ago

November 6, 2025

Within the first few minutes of director Shōji Kawamori‘s Labyrinth, protagonist Shiori laments that “without smartphones, humanity would be doomed”. From the events that later transpire, I suspect Kawamori’s opinion is quite the opposite. Kawamori is, of course, best known for his lifetime of work on the Macross franchise, which features mecha battles, idol singers, and love triangles in most of its entries. If you squint a little, each of these main obsessions is also present in Labyrinth. It seems that Kawamori can’t help himself. Whether these elements mesh together to make a satisfying film is another matter entirely. Whereas his most beloved film, Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?, is a timeless classic, Labyrinth‘s reliance on modern tech and the anxieties around it almost instantly date it.

At the end of the screening, with my head in my hands, I sighed to myself, “How in hell’s name am I supposed to review this?” It’s a movie that almost defies explanation; any attempt to summarise the plot is likely to leave me gibbering incomprehensibly. I guess I’ll have to try. Suffice to say, Labyrinth is not by any means a “good” film. However, it’s certainly an entertaining one, and often (unintentionally) hilarious. Watching along with a highly engaged audience at the Scotland Loves Anime film festival was probably the best mode of experience for Labyrinth, for without my fellow cinemagoers’ stunned, disbelieving laughter, I doubt I would have survived to the end of its bloated, almost two-hour-long runtime.

Shiori is supposed to be the audience insert, an anxious high school girl who constantly apologizes for her mere existence. The daughter of a titanic judo instructor with the most impressively imposing moustache this side of Ivo Robotnik, she rejects her family’s focus on self-improvement via martial arts. Instead, she records social media videos with her female best friend Kirara. Their friendship is somewhat unequal – Kirara is far more outgoing and confident, and Shiori secretly seethes that her videos accrue far more “likes” from the faceless online masses. In fact, Shiori uses a secret, anonymous account to spew her negativity onto the internet rather than owning it as part of herself.

It’s this sublimated jealousy and insecurity that not only fractures their friendship but also Shiori’s identity. When her beloved smartphone screen cracks, it sends ruptures through her reality, as her persona splits in two – the more anxious version trapped within an almost Silent Hill-like alternative dimension, a shadowy analogue to the real world but empty of people, and a more confident “ideal” version that instantly becomes more outgoing. Ideal Shiori dons a VTuber-style two-tone wig and sets her sights on becoming a modern media superstar, the most popular Japanese high school girl, with a goal of garnering 100 million “likes.” She views her anxious alter ego as an impediment, and frequently taunts her through her apparently cloned smartphone, which seems to be able to dial its identical equivalent in the digital world, somehow without generating network errors.

We mostly view the story through Anxious Shiori’s eyes. She journeys through a dark, ominous liminal space populated by the souls of others similarly sucked into the digital underworld, where they are transformed, unsettlingly, into the smartphone stickers that best approximate their personalities. Anxious Shiori herself tended to contribute to friend group chats mainly via stickers as a way to hide her true emotions, engaging only at a surface level. The constant demand for connectivity and reciprocal communication is shown to be exhausting and all-consuming; so, when Kirara completely disconnects and ghosts Shiori, she panics that maybe Kirara has also been sucked into this world and lost her soul. The only thing preventing Shiori from losing hers is that her smartphone remains charged. Yes, in Labyrinth all that stands between humanity and devolution into mute digital emoticons is the presence of a spare battery pack. I know that I can get anxious when out and about and running low on charge, but Labyrinth takes battery anxiety to the extreme.

Human souls are bound and pressed by enormous industrial devices that pound three-dimensional bodies into flat images, with reams of red digital text spewing from between heavy plates, clearly symbolising blood. It’s cool imagery that I wish the film had leaned into a little more heavily. If anything, the aesthetic is similar to the recent Hatsune Miku movie Colorful Stage, although with significantly less music, unfortunately.

Anxious Shiori meets Komori, a sad-looking pink bunny sticker person who seems to know a lot about this world – the eventual reveal of his true identity is probably meant to be a huge shock, but I guessed it instantly. It’s not the most subtly plotted of films. Komori is quite fun, especially when he becomes so hapless and useless that Shiori has to attach a dog collar and string to drag him around behind her, floating like a balloon and bumping into things.

If it wasn’t already deranged, Labyrinth‘s central plot goes full batshit insane later on, with the evil mastermind Suguru Kagami planning to “liberate everyone’s ideal selves,” and it’s up to Anxious Shiori and Komori to try to prevent this… somehow.

Aesthetically, the film has its moments, especially in the digital underworld that acts as a dark mirror to our own. Unfortunately, all of the character animation is accomplished using 3D CG, which, while it does a reasonable job of emulating 2D animation, lacks any real-life authenticity. The characters move like dolls rather than real, living, breathing characters. There’s something about the natural exaggeration of movement, such as squashing and stretching, and other techniques often employed in traditional animation that bring life to character movement, which is all but absent. Yes, there’s some reasonably amusing slapstick here and there, and funny character expressions, but it’s a far cry from the verve and atmosphere of Kawamori’s previous works.

For much of Labyrinth, the festival audience sat in silence until some of the nuttier plot decisions were met with incredulous guffaws. Mostly, the film plays itself very straight, which is odd for a story featuring a floating pink bunny character and an evil music producer who wants to rule the world. One particular scene where Kagami takes Ideal Shiori to his bedroom and begins to suggestively unzip his tracksuit top was met with hysterical audience laughter that will become obvious if you see the film.

Multiple similar examples litter Labyrinth, and it’s hard to tell if these insane choices that trigger such hilarity are deliberate or not, and that’s why the film is so hard to rate. None of the pieces fit together properly. Anxious Shiori, for most of the film, is a fairly unengaging, dull protagonist, though her fake/ideal version is much more fun, which is probably the point. Kagami makes for a somewhat underwhelming villain, with an unclear plan that seems overly convoluted. The rules of the world seem to change upon the writer’s whim, and crazy stuff happens mostly out of nowhere. It’s like a laundry list of bonkers ideas all strung together without any coherent plan.

I found Labyrinth a struggle to endure, yet found certain aspects very entertaining. Perhaps my mistake was watching it stone cold sober. As one of my fellow festival attendees noted, it’s probably best viewed with at least a few beers on board already. I certainly can’t unreservedly recommend Labyrinth, but if you’re hankering for some good old “WTF am I even watching right now?”, then Labyrinth has you covered.

Movie Reviews

Movie Review – A Private Life (2025)

Published

16 minutes ago

December 6, 2025

Press Room

A Private Life, 2025.

Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski.
Starring Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste, Luàna Bajrami, Noam Morgensztern, Sophie Guillemin, Frederick Wiseman, Aurore Clément, Irène Jacob, Park Ji-Min, Jean Chevalier, Emma Ravier, Scott Agnesi Delapierre, and Lucas Bleger.

SYNOPSIS:

The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered.

The first order of business here is to note that the so-called renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner is French, meaning that Jodie Foster speaks French throughout the majority of co-writer/director Rebecca Zlotowski’s mystery A Private Life. Her accent and handling of the language are also impressive, and that alone is a reason to check out the film. It also must be mentioned that Lilian isn’t precisely a psychiatrist fully attentive to her patients; if anything, she seems bored by them, which is perhaps part of the reason why her mind concocts a riddle to solve within her recordings when a patient, Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira), turns up dead.

One of Lilian’s patients also shows up hostile, demanding that their sessions be finished as he has found a hypnotist capable of curing his vices (smoking) in a limited time. This also piques her curiosity and brings her to that same hypnotist, where, even though she is condescending and dismissive of the entire concept, she finds herself falling under a spell that could hold clues to uncovering the murderer. With that said, it’s as much a film about Lilian questioning her purpose and the methods deployed regarding her line of work as it is a crafty, twisty puzzle box to solve.

Divorced from her husband, Lillan gets roped into helping Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), who gets roped into her bumbling around, which inevitably leads to discussions about their failed love life. Similarly, Lillan also has a fractured relationship with her grown son, Julian (Vincent Lacoste), now a parent himself, with the running joke that whenever she stops by, the baby wakes up and starts crying profusely. Her personal life is rife with confusion, and her professional life is a bore, pushing her further and further into a mystery that might solely be in her head.

Not to give too much away, but there probably wouldn’t be a movie if there was absolutely nothing to solve here. Naturally, A Private Life has plenty of suspects that crop up from the tapes Lilian plays back to herself, searching for something that will point her in the right direction. It turns out that Paula also led a dysfunctional family life, but, more concerning, it could also be a suicide potentially aided by Lilian herself, once accidentally prescribing the wrong dosage of medicine. With the way some of those recordings are shot and presented in a hazy, hypnotic flashback form, complete with close-ups of Paula lying down on the couch, one also begins to wonder if there is a psychosexual angle at play here.

It shouldn’t be any surprise that A Private Life (co-written by Anne Berest, in collaboration with Gaëlle Macé) is also aggressively silly while cycling through every potential suspect, and that, even if there are clear answers here, the narrative is less about what happened and more about and more proper, present method of conducting therapy. The message the film ultimately lands on there isn’t entirely convincing. To be fair, everything involving the hypnotism is also quite absurd and strains credulity. However, it doesn’t take away from the fact that this is still an entertaining mystery with some compelling character work and an engrossing, controlled spiral of a performance from Jodie Foster.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist

Originally published December 6, 2025. Updated December 7, 2025.

Movie Reviews

Movie Review – Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair

Published

12 hours ago

December 6, 2025

Press Room

Movie Review – Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, 2025.

Directed by Quentin Tarantino.
Starring Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madson, Daryl Hannah, Julie Dreyfus, Chiaki Kuriyama, Gordon Liu, Shin’ichi Chiba, Michael Parks, James Parks, Kenji Ôba and Perla Haney-Jardine.

SYNOPSIS

Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair unites Volume 1 and Volume 2 into a single, unrated epic—presented exactly as he intended, complete with a new, never-before-seen anime sequence.

Over 20 years after Quentin Tarantino’s two-volume revenge epic Kill Bill was released in theatres, the director’s complete vision of one unified film finally sees its wide release after only a few rare showings of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair. The result is a reminder of some of Tarantino’s strongest work as well as Uma Thurman’s powerful performance as the blood-spattered Bride which is made more impactful by combining the two volumes into one.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that even after so long Kill Bill remains one of Tarantino’s best works in his long career. The film is a great mix of the western and martial arts genres full of memorable characters, snappy dialogue and incredible action scenes. The Bride’s battle with the Crazy 88 gang feels entirely new as The Whole Bloody Affair‘s unrated cut sees the fight’s black-and-white sequence restored to colour, allowing viewers to soak in (no pun intended) all its blood and gore. The original black-and-white still has its own shine, but one can gain a newer appreciation with the colour’s vibrant setting and stellar choreography.

The combined nature of the film also provides more nuance to the story and performances. With Tarantino having re-edited the ending of Vol. 1 to remove the cliffhangers and Vol. 2‘s opening recap, the narrative structure flows very well to better convey the overall story even with Vol. 2‘s more dialogue-heavy and story-driven focus compared to the more action-packed Vol. 1. The throughline with its story, themes and character development is much more noticeable in The Whole Bloody Affair than having to switch discs or streaming the next part when watching the films back-to-back.

This is where Uma Thurman’s performance really shines through. The Bride was already one of her best roles 20 years ago, but watching her performance in this nature really highlights the strength of her arc and nuances she put into the character. This is especially clear in the different versions of The Bride she portrays, from her assassin training to willing bride to determined avenger. No scene is this clearer in when she discovers her daughter alive and well, a fact that in this cut of Kill Bill the audience finds out the same time as The Bride, giving the revelation a much stronger gut punch due to Thurman’s emotions and her subsequent scenes with BB.

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair also benefits from additional changes. Aside from the removal of cliffhangers and the full-colour fight, some extra footage is added here and there but mostly in the anime sequence detailing O-Ren Ishi’s origin which includes a completely new scene of O-Ren exacting vengeance on another of her parents’ murderers. The new scene fits right in with the rest of the anime and is rich in its own right with the characters smooth movements and choreography. While it may not have been entirely needed, it is still very entertaining to watch and getting more backstory on O-Ren is never a bad thing as Lucy Liu made her quite a memorable antagonist.

Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair shows how much stronger many of its elements are as one film as opposed to two volumes. From the fight scenes, the story, the writing and the performances, a whole lot more nuance is gained in this cohesive film particularly with Thurman’s performance. If you’re a fan of Tarantino’s earlier work and of the Kill Bill films, The Whole Bloody Affair is the definitive way to watch this iconic story.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist

Movie Reviews

Merrily We Roll Along

Published

1 day ago

December 5, 2025

Press Room

Merrily We Roll Along tells a cautionary tale about the dangers of fame and fortune, and how the pursuit of worldly success can come at the cost of family and friends. Fans of the original production won’t be disappointed here (since it’s just a filmed production of the stage play), but should note that this story includes suggestive situations, some harsh language and plenty of drinking and smoking.