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Jun 23, 2023

'#Manhole' Review

Published on By It takes a great deal of careful plotting to make a good confined single location thriller. Films such as Buried (2010), The Pool (2018), and 4×4 (2019) rely on a variety of

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It takes a great deal of careful plotting to make a good confined single location thriller. Films such as Buried (2010), The Pool (2018), and 4×4 (2019) rely on a variety of complications to maintain tension without becoming repetitive or overstaying their welcome. It’s a delicate balance, but when it’s done well, the results can be electrifying.

Writer Michitaka Okada adopts a unique conceit for their latest, #Manhole, which readily employs social media to drive the narrative of a successful realtor, Shunsuke Kawamura (Yûto Nakajima), who falls down an open manhole the night before his wedding.

Director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri cues audiences that phones will play a vital part by opening with an elaborate split-screen video of Shunsuke’s work colleagues taping congratulations at his wedding party. Immediately following the party, a drunken Shunsuke bids his friend Kase (Kento Nagayama) goodbye, stumbles down the street and almost immediately falls down a hole in the ground. Approximately 99% of the rest of the film follows his efforts to find his way out as he battles numerous obstacles, including a broken ladder, an infected leg injury, rising water levels due to rain, and a leaky gas pipe, all of which threatens his safety and/or plans to escape.

Unlike other films that disavow the use of technology or rely on conceits like no cell signal, dropped calls, or dying batteries, #Manhole leans into the idea that Shunsuke still has reception and can communicate with the outside world. Kumakiri uses familiar visual storytelling techniques to capture text on screen, or cuts to insert shots of Shunsuke’s phone screen as he scrolls through fictitious social media app ‘Pecker’ to galvanize his rescue efforts.

The way the film uses ‘Pecker’ is what helps to set #Manhole apart from other films in the subgenre. Shunsuke is savvy enough to realize that presenting as a young woman instead of himself is more likely to garner attention, so he creates a fake profile as his own (fictitious) sister under the handle ManholeGirl, then relies on chivalrous men to take up his cause.

Initially, Shunsuke believes the manhole is part of a construction site in Shibuya because that’s where the bar was, but between Community Affairs officers and the one individual he can reach, his ex-girlfriend Mai (Nao), he quickly realizes that his location is more of a mystery. The film becomes something of an investigation as a result: Shunsuke and the ‘Pecker’ community use freeze frames from video he takes on his phone, as well as the party, and from his photo roll to try and source his location.

The other novel element that Okada uses to make the film unique is that Shunsuke himself is more complicated than he initially seems. Early in the film Mai encourages him to call the police for help, but he shuts the idea down suspiciously fast. And when the internet begins to question if his fall was less of an accident, it’s revealed that between his 50-odd exes and the work colleagues that are jealous of his impending marriage to the CEO’s daughter, Shunsuke has more than a few enemies who might like to see him disappear.

These kinds of mini-mysteries, plus the usual physical threats, ensure that #Manhole remains entertaining and complicated throughout its nearly 100-minute runtime. By accepting the reality that modern technology, and particularly social media, can help, not hinder, the story when used properly, #Manhole manages to both surprise and entertain in equal measure.

The result is a pretty fun addition to the confined single location thriller subgenre.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Joe is a TV addict with a background in Film Studies. He co-created TV/Film Fest blog QueerHorrorMovies and writes for Bloody Disgusting, Anatomy of a Scream, That Shelf, The Spool and Grim Magazine. He enjoys graphic novels, dark beer and plays multiple sports (adequately, never exceptionally). While he loves all horror, if given a choice, Joe always opts for slashers and creature features.

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As unrealistic as zombie apocalypses are, the main character in Netflix’s movie 100 Zom: Bucket List of the Dead is easy to relate to. At the start of this live-action adaptation of Haro Asō’s manga, Akira Tendō (Eiji Akaso) is annoyingly chipper as he starts his new job. Soon enough, though, reality hits Akira like a bullet train, and he becomes yet another exploited employee at his workplace. While his misery appears to be eternal, Akira is eventually given a second chance at life as a zombie virus overwhelms the world.

Upon learning of mankind’s fate, one caused by a mysterious and contagious virus, Akira is ecstatic. He doesn’t have to go to work anymore now that most everyone is either dead or zombified. As inappropriate as his first reaction seems, the story prefaces the chaos with enough evidence of why someone like Akira would rejoice in such a dire situation. Zom 100 humorously but also accurately captures intense Japanese work culture. Long hours, unpaid overtime, having to sleep at work, the inability to go home before the boss does — it’s a grueling way of life that not everyone is cut out for, yet many people put up with it because that’s just how things are. So when Akira smiles in the face of pandemonium, the audience can’t help but smile with him.

Zom 100 rejects the grim aesthetic so innate to other zombie movies and instead prefers a brighter palette to better match Akira’s new outlook. Interior shots admittedly fall into old habits of modern filmmaking; the use of color-correction and underlighting is less severe than usual, but the practices remain in effect. In addition to the rich visuals on occasion, director Yusuke Ishida plays with space as a reflection of the characters’ inner feelings. The cramped offices and close quarters are a manifestation of frustration, fear, and sadness, whereas happiness, relief, and liberation are tied directly to the outside.

The characters of Zom 100 are all easy to like, thanks to the cast. Eiji Akaso captures Akira well with his winsome and animated performance. The reconciliation between Akira and best friend Kenichirō “Kencho” Ryūzaki (Shuntarō Yanagi) is endearing, if not underdeveloped when compared to that of the manga. And Mai Shiraishi brings out the delayed but inevitable warmth of fellow survivor Shizuka Mikazuki, who is crucial to Akira’s maturation when the group runs into the protagonist’s former boss, Gonzō Kosugi (Kazuki Kitamura).

Zom 100 is foremost a dramedy that just so happens to be set in a world filled with zombies. However, that’s not to say it’s devoid of action and horror. When it comes time to fight off the living dead, Akira and his friends (both existing and new) aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. The early zombie interactions are rather undemanding, but the movie wisely adapts the manga’s wild and Gyo-esque shark set piece in the last act. The charming Akaso finally dons his “superhero” suit — the former Kamen Rider actor knows a thing or two about heroics — and battles an outrageous shark zombie. The movie so far hasn’t boasted enough outlandish moments, but it most certainly delivers toward the end.

Comparisons are unavoidable, but the movie adequately sums up the manga’s discussions about work-life balance while also providing brisk storytelling, ample action, and appealing characters. With the manga still going and an anime adaptation underway, it would seem like this movie is perhaps unnecessary. Yet someone wanting a condensed retelling of the source material, or someone simply looking to explore Zom 100 for the first time, will be delighted with this version.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is now streaming on Netflix.