X-Game

After a childhood friend's suicide, Hideaki (Hirofumi Araki, “Prince of Tennis”) and his former classmates reunite to pay their respects. Soon after, a DVD, marked ‘X’ arrives revealing a man being tortured, triggering a flashback in Hideaki, reminding him of witnessing a schoolmate being subjected to humiliating “batsu” (punishment) games. One evening, Hideaki is kidnapped and when he awakens the next day, he discovers he is in a recreation of his old school-room, along with his fellow classmates. Trapped and held captive by mysterious hooded figures, each of them must now play a brutally violent, version of the punishment game, in order to survive. A twisty, horror/mystery ‘mash-up’ peppered with dark humor and inventive gore, director Yôhei Fukuda’s (of UK-banned “Grotesque”) shows how revenge is a dish best served cold and not very sweet – Japanese style.