Shinji Aoyama′s psycho-thriller, Lakeside Murder Case, based on a bestselling novel, arouses viewers′ curiosity. Director Shinji has been focusing on the uneventful world until recently. Viewers are inevitably attracted to this new film as he takes his camera into a thrilling world full of twists. Three couples visit a villa beside a lake with their children. They want their children to prepare intensively for a prestigious schoolľs entrance exams with the help of a private tutor. One day, one of the children is murdered. The film does not feature the tragic incident on the surface, but rather focuses on the powerful tensions underneath. It digs up the dark sides of typical Japanese parents who dedicate their lives to their children′s success. The love between parents and children, happy marriages and success seem like enormous social pressures. The film reveals the destructive desires secretly kept beneath the surface in people who obey the forced values of society. The dark shadows of such a life slowly fall upon the three couples. The sensitive social issue is well addressed in the thriller with Aoyama′s typical slow and lyrical touches creating heightened tensions. (Kim Young-jin)