54
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleAn interesting film, and while it is not entirely successful (and at times most puzzling), it achieves a certain poignancy.
- 70L.A. WeeklyMark OlsenL.A. WeeklyMark OlsenOkuda creates that slightly surreal atmosphere of ghost-town emptiness that will be familiar to fans of Takeshi Miike, but he infuses it with a romantic's sense of deep yearning.
- 60Village VoiceVillage VoiceAlthough the movie drags, Okuda (who also directed) makes for a gloriously bad lieutenant, while Ozawa is enjoyably discomfiting in her unblushing carnality.
- 60Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasDecidedly uneven yet intriguing.
- 50The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonThe A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonThe problem is that both as a director and as an actor, Okuda never makes a particularly convincing case either for sex or for deeper commitment as a road away from the abyss.
- 50The New York TimesLawrence Van GelderThe New York TimesLawrence Van GelderThe film, at least 20 minutes too long, has too many competing story lines to succeed as more than an oddball mood piece.
- 50New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoOkuda's debut behind the camera, Shoujyo, is a dirty old man's delight: schoolgirls galore in short skirts or, in Yoko's case, nothing at all. That may be enough for some viewers, but not for those who insist on a story that gives substance to its characters.
- 50TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghSuicide, child molestation, corruption, insanity and the faintest implication of incest are wound around the film's suggestion that the cure for modern-day alienation and anomie lies in embracing traditional Japanese culture, like ritual tattooing.