Helter Skelter

03/18/2025 20:22

Film: Helter Skelter (Herutâ sukerutâ)

Year: 2012

Director: Mika Ninagawa

Writer: Arisa Kaneko

Starring: Erika Sawajiri, Nao Ômori and Shinobu Terajima

 

Review:

This was a film that went on a list of ones to see. I originally learned about it due to my podcast, Journey with a Cinephile. For February, I like to feature two horror films that were directed by women. This is on the list of top films directed by women according to Letterboxd. I’ve finally been able to track down a copy to cover for Women Appreciation.

Synopsis: top star Lilico (Erika Sawajiri) undergoes multiple cosmetic surgeries to her entire body. Things start to fall apart as side effects emerge.

We start this off with a group of girls. I’m not sure if they’re high school or college age, but we will come back to them periodically in this story. They’re talking about Lilico and how she’s the hot new thing. We first see her in medical wraps as they’re being removed. A prosecutor named Asada (Nao Ômori) makes a comment about how her face doesn’t match to her bone structure, or something along these lines.

It is from here that we learn more about Lilico and get an idea of her daily life. She is the hot new model. She’s making the transition to her first acting job. When the paper comes out after the press conference, she’s sharing the page with another actress. Her manager, who she calls Mom, is Hiroko Tada (Kaori Momi). She also has an assistant named Michiko Hata (Shinobu Terajima). Lilico is hard on her, but she enjoys her job. Hata is also dating Shin Okumura (Go Ayano).

Things are going great for Lilico as well in that she gets engaged to her boyfriend. All good things come to an end though. She keeps getting these spots on her body. This is due to the treatments and surgeries she received from this clinic. She must continue to do more to stay ‘perfect’. It then doesn’t help that there’s a new model who is rivaling her, even taking jobs, in Kozue Yoshikawa (Kiko Mizhuhara). Then it is revealed that her fiancé is engaged to marry the daughter of a politician. Prosecutor Asada approaches Lilico, wanting her to testify against the clinic that has helped her obtain her look.

Lilico spirals out of control, lashing out at those around her in retaliation. The lengths she’ll go to get what she wants and to stay on top, the problem rapidly becomes how long can she last before everything falls apart?

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is by saying that this has a simple story. It is much more of a character study of Lilico as we watch everything that goes into her persona driving her to madness. It almost seems easier for her to obtain being the top model, but maintaining it is another thing. Something else I’ll come back to are the visuals that bring this to life.

Now that I’ve set that up, let me delve more into this main character. Lilico as I said as she busts on the scene and she’s everywhere. She’s on the cover of all the magazines, commercials and now is branching out into acting. What the public doesn’t know is everything that she went through to obtain her level of ‘perfection’. It involved surgery and injections of a serum that might not be ethically made. She has natural talent, but she hasn’t always been this beautiful. We are seeing this unreal standard that she tries to maintain. There is also greed as she tries to keep everything that she feels is hers. I’ll go ahead and credit Sawajiri here. She never comes across as likeable as she’s the villain. This performance is perfect for the role though.

Let me then shift gears here to discuss the social commentary. I’ve already brought up the standard that she is holding herself to. This is definitely a commentary on the modeling industry. It is toxic in how women are treated. I’d also say it is harmful to how they treat each other with Lilico toward Hata. You could even look at this with Mom back to Lilico. It is curious that she calls her manager this, as I feel this is a representation of a mother who pushes her child too far to live up to these expectations. I get the idea of not being good enough as well. You could also point to how this industry gives people 15 minutes before it chews them up and spits them out broken, metaphorically speaking. I did appreciate this.

I want them to discuss the best part here and that is with filmmaking. Visually this movie is absolutely stunning. The color pallet is rich and a feast for the eyes. There are great montage sequences to help tell the story and get us up to speed. The cinematography and framing are great. This also makes sense since this is based on a manga by Kyoko Okazaki. I’d bet there are sequences or imagery pulled directly. There are also effects. I would say there is a combination of practically done and CGI. These are limited since it is more of a character study. No issues there, especially since Lilico hallucinates so things she is seeing aren’t always real. Then finally let’s discuss the soundtrack. There is a combination of classical music and songs to fit the atmosphere. I’ll be honest, it made me think of A Clockwork Orange there. It fit what this film needed for the tone for sure. My only gripe is that this runs too long and gets repetitive. I do think if they trim this by 15 to 30 minutes, it conveys the same ideas just in a tighter overall product.

All that is left then is to finish out with discussing the acting performances. I’ve already said how good Sawajiri was. I do like Ômori and the other police officers. They run concurrently with her story. It isn’t until they decide to go after the clinic that Prosecutor Asada approaches her, which adds to her stress. Terajima and Ayano are good in that they get tangled with Lilico. She bullies them, forces them to do things they don’t necessarily want to in order to gain control back over her life. That adds tension. Other than that, Mizuhara, Momoi and the rest of the cast push Lilico to where she ends up.

In conclusion, the biggest compliment that I give this film is that it is a feast for the eyes. Visually this is stunning. I think that it is telling an interesting story about Lilico and the dangers of the fashion industry. It is a character study of her while also telling the horror story for women. The performance from Sawajiri is great. The rest of the cast push her to where she ends up. This is well-made, with the biggest gripe being that it runs too long. Not one that I can recommend to everyone, but if what I said interests you, give this a watch.

 

My Rating: 8 out of 10