Homunculus (2021)

• Year: 2021
• Released: 02 Apr 2021
• Country: Japan
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14404280/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/homunculus
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: Japanese
• MPA Rating: TV-MA
• Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
• Runtime: 115 min
• Writer: Naruki Matsuhisa, Eisuke Naitô, Takashi Shimizu
• Director: Takashi Shimizu
• Cast: Gô Ayano, Edward Bosco, Amber Lee Connors
• Keywords: supernatural, based on manga, psychological horror, medicine, trepanation,

5.5/10

Homunculus Storyline

Susumu Nokoshi once worked for a top foreign financial company. He is now a 34-year-old homeless man, usually found around a park in Shinjuku. He then meets medical school student Manabu Ito, who is looking for volunteers to undergo a surgical procedure known as trepanation. The surgery involves drilling a hole in the skull. Susumu is not interested in having the surgery, but he agrees to have the procedure for 700,000 yen. After the operation, when Susumu closes his right eye and sees someone with his left eye, he sees people having a distorted appearance. Manabu tells him that the distorted appearance is a form of visualization from deep within the mind. Susumu communicates with people, who possess a dark side in their subconscious mind.

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Homunculus Movie Reviews

Boring second half

Warning: this is not the cortical homunculus with big hand and lip.

A new Japanese movie on Netflix that adapted from the manga with the same name. A homeless amnesiac got his forehead drilled, which allowed him to use his brain more and see into people’s inner trauma.

I didn’t know about the manga, so the review is based solely on what I saw. The first half was very interesting, as the main character explored his newly discovered ability. That one scene with the high school girl was so weird and mind-boggling. This first half got me invested to see how far the main character would take his ability.

The second half made a sudden change in tone, and became mystery and drama. I had major issue with this story because things did not have explanations, the buildup did not address the character’s background, and the story itself didn’t even make that much sense. This second half might improve a little bit of there was more impactful background music. Honestly the second half story wasn’t that intriguing.

Also, the premise that if one drills a hole into the brain, and somehow this makes more space for the brain to be used more, was just stupid. This reminded my of Lucy, a movie with Scarlett Johansson where the main character got injected some weird blue stuff and was able to use more than 10% of her brain. At least that makes more sense than the premise of this movie. And the 10% brain usage is a stupid myth.

Overall, an interesting story about guilt and trauma, but the second half became convoluted and messy. 5/10.

Weird manga adaptation about a guy seeing the traumas of others

Something must have been lost in translation, surely, as most of the characters in this film react in a way that is inconsistent to what people would do in a Western culture. You have a homeless person who acts all high and mighty when someone proposes shifty things for money, a medical student who is so annoying and arrogant yet no one kicks his ass, two women who just submit themselves when faced with minimal physical restraining and all kinds of extreme reactions to simple words uttered randomly by other people. One girl is practically raped as therapy (now you understand where the term comes from), then wound sucking and blood kissing followed.

The story itself combines the concept of homunculus with Jungian psychology, dodgy medical experiments that make no sense and parapsychology, but doesn’t go anywhere.

There some interesting things in the plot, though. The idea that one particular trauma, that we probably don’t (or won’t) even remember defines so much of our persona that just nibbling away at it would unravel a person. They could have gone with that a lot, but instead the film wastes too much on exposition, then hurries over the interesting part, then ends in a convoluted and pointless ending. I understand it’s an adaptation from a manga, but there is no rule that forces following it exactly.

Bottom line: a weird concept with some interesting details, but a poor cinematic implementation and I can only assume some bad translation as well.

SERIOUSLY, people actually gave this a score over 1???? Dont buy that!! Shrills!!

For 1 I cant believe people actually finished this piece of garbage, I’ve seen better home movies shot with a vhs camcorder and watched on a front projection tv in direct sunlight while eating cold pancakes and drinking warm flat beer!! SERIOUSLY?? Trust me it’s not even worth having in the background while you vaccum!!