The only reason for the 3 is that the photography was well done. Everything else? Hmm... not much...
Lots of spoilers ahead.
The film becomes pretty predictable about halfway through, from the point where Mio tells the ex-detective "He's not my father", but there are some holes large enough to drive a semi through with room for a few compact cars besides. Like...
-- if Mio was so concerned about the fate of her mother, why didn't she go to the police?
-- if we assume the junior detective was killed by the deranged psycho, how did the body wind up in the torched house next door?
-- why was the ex-detective's wife unwilling to tell her husband about the psycho getting her hooked on drugs?
-- when she had the opportunity, why didn't Mio kill the psycho?
It's almost like the film just went nowhere and stayed for a brief visit because it had nothing else to say. When killing a dog provides the moment when everyone pivots back on the psycho — a moment, by the way, that was far too long in coming — you have to wonder what film all these critics went to see instead of this one? It's long, repetitive, leaves itself wide open, and has characters whose motives are just as muddled and confused as the greenlight given this thing in the first place.
Lots of spoilers ahead.
The film becomes pretty predictable about halfway through, from the point where Mio tells the ex-detective "He's not my father", but there are some holes large enough to drive a semi through with room for a few compact cars besides. Like...
-- if Mio was so concerned about the fate of her mother, why didn't she go to the police?
-- if we assume the junior detective was killed by the deranged psycho, how did the body wind up in the torched house next door?
-- why was the ex-detective's wife unwilling to tell her husband about the psycho getting her hooked on drugs?
-- when she had the opportunity, why didn't Mio kill the psycho?
It's almost like the film just went nowhere and stayed for a brief visit because it had nothing else to say. When killing a dog provides the moment when everyone pivots back on the psycho — a moment, by the way, that was far too long in coming — you have to wonder what film all these critics went to see instead of this one? It's long, repetitive, leaves itself wide open, and has characters whose motives are just as muddled and confused as the greenlight given this thing in the first place.