Audition

AroView: An almost-masterpiece of the macabre that sets up and sustains itself brilliantly with a restrained pace and jewel of a premise, then careens off in the third act into the shock territory and murky distortions more typical of ‘enfant terrible’ director, Miike.

A gracious, widowed TV executive yearns for the perfect partner and becomes encouraged to find her via a bogus ‘audition’, unknowing that the nubile woman of his fixation has set up a sinister ruse of her own. Strung along by his naive fantasy of perfect love, the intrigue, guilt and obsession compounds along with a sense of impending dread, though nothing quite prepares you for the nerve-shredding hell that eventually breaks loose.