Sono Shion announces his outrageous thriller as being based on a true story, but doubts will set in well before you’re wallowing in the first bloodbath. The factual case which inspired the ex-poet involved dog-breeders in Saitama Prefecture, but Sono sets his story in the bizarre world of tropical fish retailing. Shop-owner Shamoto is increasingly estranged from his wife and daughter and lives for visits to his favourite planetarium. When Murata Yukio, boss of a tropical fish supermarket (a stupendous performance from former comedian Denden), steps into his life, Shamoto’s world is transformed. It’s not until he witnesses Murata murdering an investor and is forced to help with the splattery disposal of the corpse that he realises just how much his world has been transformed. With the same irresponsible glee he showed in [Exte] and [Love Exposure], Sono piles on the agony: several murders later, Shamoto is struggling to outwit Murata, call the cops and regain the respect of his wife and daughter. Since it’s a Sono film, a happy outcome is far from guaranteed. (Tony Rayns)