Review
Isolated locations and long-dormant mysteries are often the perfect combination for horror movies to deliver terrifying, memorable stories. Oftentimes, these tales are layered with deeper meaning, whether it’s subtle symbolism or overt storytelling. Best Wishes to All offers a look at the latter, but does so in a way that’s compelling and creepy. The setup for the 2025 horror movie is innocuous enough: a girl and her parents are visiting her grandparents in the Japanese countryside. However, one night, she discovers something horrifying upstairs, hidden in a room at the end of their hallway.
Best Wishes to All is produced by Takashi Shimizu, director of The Grudge.
The film then cuts to years later — the girl is a nursing student who, after much time away, has returned to visit her grandparents. Now older, she begins to notice more peculiarities about her grandmother and grandfather. As the film progresses, writer-director Yûta Shimotsu reveals more about their situation, peeling back layers of a disturbing truth. In reality, the movie’s premise isn’t just there to deliver scares in an isolated area. Its real purpose is to comment on the lengths people will go to in order to be happy.
Best Wishes To All Offers A Disturbing Display Of Its Core Premise
The Movie Doesn't Hold Back On Its Dour Tale
The cryptic nature of Best Wishes to All is spelled out right from the start. The Japanese horror movie doesn’t hold back in embracing odd elements associated with its overarching mystery. It’s the presentation that stands out the most, with events transpiring without any music or traditional presentation of horrifying situations. What other movies would present with scratchy violins and building musical chords, Best Wishes to All showcases in frighteningly mundane ways. This is especially the case when the mystery of the film is still building.
As it progresses, though, it grows more experimental in its disturbing nature. A stellar leading performance from Kotone Furukawa truly encapsulates the terrifying mystery her grandparents are involved in. She knows just as much as the audience does, with her reactions being a disquieting reflection of the feelings evoked by the film’s dark revelations. The terror of her not fully understanding what’s going on permeates the movie, even after some major reveals offer additional context to its true premise.
The film is constantly trying to emphasize the isolationist elements of its terror, mostly through the generational portrayal of the protagonist’s family. It becomes obvious from the start that their secrets are the true yarn of horror being spun. While this offers some basic elements similar to Hereditary or The Babadook, particularly in the setup, the movie carefully crafts its own unique horror tale. Its presentation and character focus emphasize its core element of what it means to be happy, presenting the dour notion that the amount of happiness there is in the world is very, very limited.
Best Wishes To All Prioritizes Its Symbolic Ideas Over Realism
This Works For The Movie, With One Small Annoyance
Despite initially starting with a grounded premise, Best Wishes to All‘s terrifying reveals cause the film to enter a spiral of symbolic narrative choices. However, it ends up working quite well, as it extends beyond the family into the rural area of Japan it takes place in. This is all seen through the eyes of Furukawa’s character as she grapples with what she learns, slowly discovering new, haunting reveals about people she’d thought she’d known so well. Its static presentation and realistic character interactions only serve to make these developments more disturbing.
Even these moments are still bolstered by the cinematography, showcasing the gorgeous scenery of rural Japan as it contrasts with the horrific moments across the film.
However, despite the stellar presentation throughout, the film is slightly marred by a second half that becomes circular in its storytelling. This is because the film’s structure grows repetitive, adding some impressively disturbing elements, but presenting them in a less-than-streamlined way. The movie gets stuck at a certain point, particularly with the cycle in which it presents more context to its horror elements. Luckily, this is only one portion of the film, albeit a notably long enough time that it makes the movie feel circular at some points.
Even these moments are still bolstered by the cinematography, showcasing the gorgeous scenery of rural Japan as it contrasts with the horrific moments across the film. It makes the horror movie feel claustrophobic and open at the same time, the protagonist trapped within the confines of swathing fields and farmland. The setting, coupled with camerawork that truly shows off the area, underscores the contrast between its wide openness and the secret terrors hidden inside. Since the main character remains just as compelling as the visuals, both combine to make even the more circular moments feel like they’re building on terrors.
Showcasing a harrowing horror story about the cost of happiness, Best Wishes to All is a terrifying, twisted tale that never lets up on the scary revelations it keeps unearthing. Thanks to its isolated setting, strong protagonist, and a myriad of horrifying ideas throughout, the film is a highly memorable Japanese horror movie that lives up to its unique premise. Even with some parts that felt too cyclical, the film still managed to prove itself a strong entry in 2025’s winning streak of horror films.
Best Wishes to All arrives Friday, June 13 on Shudder.
Pros & Cons
- A compelling horror mystery about the true cost of happiness.
- Strong performances elevate an already intense presentation.
- Cinematography shows off the beautiful rural Japanese setting.
- The way the horror is presented is memorable and terrifying.
- The second half of the film gets stuck in a slightly tedious cycle.
