Synopsis (spoilers): Detective Kenichi Takabe (Koji Yakusho) desperately tries to solve a series of killings where previously benign people kill in the exact same horrible way, carving large 'X's across the throats and chests of their victims. None has a clue as to why they did what they did. With the help of psychiatrist Makoto Sakuma (Tsuyoshi Ujiki), Takabe finally apprehends meek amnesiac Kunio Mamiya (Masato Hagiwara), a blank-slate drifter who appears to have instigated the killings second-hand, through hypnotic suggestion. The problem that nobody seems to grasp is that anyone who gets near Mamiya easily falls under his deadly influence.

Review: There's a point in conspiracy movies when you know the battle is lost, when the schemers have murdered all the witnesses or destroyed all the evidence, as in The Bad Sleep Well and The Parallax View. In paranoid Sci-Fi pictures like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it's the moment when we find out that too many people have been possessed, that the invaders have won. Cure maintains the uneasy feeling of this moment throughout most of its scenes, never completely crushing the hope that the hero can defeat an almost indefinable menace, one that police and doctors can't define until it's too late.

Told in a crisp and uncluttered style that reduces many scenes to splendidly designed single takes, Cure makes us feel as if we're eavesdroppers on events that can't be explained in words. Many scenes are observed from the next room or at a discreet distance, yet we're fully engaged in every detail as we follow Detective Takabe's search for the answers to horrible crimes. The amnesiac Mamiya is outwardly harmless-looking. He has the potential of being a Japanese Hannibal Lecter, a powerful mind bent on committing his atrocities indirectly through other people. Mamiya describes himself as empty and is such a sponge for the feelings of others that he often appears telepathic. Like Hannibal Lecter, he develops a unique relationship with our hero, one that we fear can have only one outcome.

The picture has a couple of brief but startling gore moments but relies mostly on a sense of creeping dread, for what might happen if this epidemic of mass murder gets out of control. Working from his own novel and script, director Kurosawa brings in elements of ghostly influence and the hint of supernatural involvement, using an engaging method. After a certain point, learning more about Mamiya becomes near impossible, because anyone in contact with the mind-warping Svengali begins to experience hallucinations and other adverse effects. One certainly walks away from this macabre thriller with a sense of unease.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Cure rates:

The film takes place in modern-day Tokyo, where police detective Kenichi Takabe (Koji Yakusho) has been assigned to investigate a series of bizarre murders. All of the murders were committed by different people, all of whom come from different walks-of-life, but they all share two common traits: 1. the victims were found with an "X" cut into their throats, and 2. the perpetrators all claim to have no knowledge or memory of the crimes. Obviously, the strange nature of the murders is very stressful for Takabe, who is also taking care of his wife (Anna Nakagawa), who has a history of mental illness. Even Takage psychiatric associate, Sakuma (Tsuyoshi Ujiki) is stumped by the crimes. However, things get even stranger when a drifter with no memory (Masato Hagiwara) is found to be hypnotizing citizens of Tokyo to commit despicable acts. Is this man connected to the murders?

Cure is that rare film whose subject matter creeps into the film's overall presentation. Much of the film deals with hypnotism and writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has attempted to create a hypnotic film. The bulk of the dialogue scenes are done in one-take fashion, creating an uneasy lulling sense in the viewer. Kurosawa's camera moves during these scenes, but the movements are always very slow and calculated. These long, slowly-paced scenes recalled the style that Miike employed in Audition.

But, unlike Audition, which goes absolutely bonkers in the final act, Cure never goes anywhere. The first 45 minutes of the film, in which we are introduced to Takabe and the murders, is interesting, and there are two very shocking shots which imply that the film will be a psychological thrill-ride. But the remainder of this 2-hour film are excruciatingly boring, as Kurosawa offers no answers to the multiple questions raised in Cure. And while I'm not a huge fan of ambiguity in films, if an avoidance of revelations is coupled with interesting characters, images, and actions, as with the films of David Lynch, it is forgivable. But, nothing happens during the last hour of Cure, and the audience is simply kept waiting for a satisfying ending which never comes. Some my find the final scene shocking, or the film "challenging", but it's clear that Kurosawa ran out of ideas for the third act.

The obvious film to which Cure can be compared is Se7en, as they were made at the same time, and contain similar stories. And although the ending of Se7en is confusing to many (I still meet people who don't know what was in the box) and left open to moral interpretations, at least the audience was given material to work with. Cure remains poker-faced, never showing its cards or letting the viewer into its warped mind.

Cure offers an interesting premise, but most audiences will find the film very slow and frustrating. If one is in the mood for a more mainstream Japanese thriller, I would recommend the similarly themed The Hypnotist (AKA Saimin, Hypnosis), in which a serial-killer is using hypnosis to force victims to commit suicide. The film may be a derivative mixture of Cure and Ringu, but it's a well-made, intelligent thriller which has an unforgettable climax.