Liverleaf Review

Movie: Liverleaf
Romaji: Misumisou
Japanese: ミスミソウ
Actors: Anna Yamada, Hiroya Shimizu, Rinka Otani
Director: Eisuke Naito
Writer: Rensuke Oshikiri (manga), Miako Tadano

Are you looking for a good revenge movie? What makes a good revenge movie by the way? Should the movie have brilliant plot and realistic characters or are you fine as long as you would find yourself grinning when the protagonist brutally kills the people who gave her injustice, if that's the case then you would definitely love this movie.

My main criticism about this movie is that the events and the characters are very much unrealistic like they don't have any back story for those characters as to why they became that bad. They just present you a world full of bad people like no one in this movie is likable especially the adults, they are trash individuals. The bullying is also over the top, it's by far the worst bullying I've encountered in a Japanese movie. I even cringe at times as to how unrealistic it was. The way some characters die is dumb which makes it borderline laughable. But at the back of my head I am thinking it might be by intention; they might want it to look B-movie-ish because it makes the movie experience more fun and entertaining and not just full of suspense. It seems I am bashing this film but trust me I indeed enjoy it very much. 

Though I have my own criticisms about this movie, this movie still has elements that make a great revenge movie. The protagonist suffers heinous injustice, antagonists have done something unthinkable to someone she cared about, a satisfying revenge. The way the protagonist gets her justice by killing those bullies the most grotesque way as possible is so satisfying because of that hatred I've built up towards those bullies at the first half of the film.

The other thing I like about this movie is its snowy setting and most of the killings are done in snow background which only makes the killings, the blood stands out. The cinematography also makes sure we witness each killing the best way possible, it's a mix of fix shots and moving shots. Anna Yamada is brilliant in this movie, she is so subtle but can give intensity if requires with ease. I predict she's going to be a big force in acting in the future. You just can't beat talent and charisma.