Jan. 24, 2019|Japan|88 Min.|n/A
Genre: Adventure;Crime;Drama;Horror;Mystery;Thriller;Violence(Slasher)
Description: Signal 100 is a 2019 thriller where a homeroom teacher subjects 36 students, including Rena Kashimura (played by Kanna Hashimoto), to a suicide hypnosis. As a result, 100 ordinary behaviors—such as crying or laughing—can trigger the hypnotized students to take their own lives. Rena, driven by a strong sense of justice, tries to escape this grim fate. Fear of death pushes the students into a deadly game. However, as the story progresses, it loses its initial appeal. The characters become dull and often irritating, while plot twists feel forced and detract from the once-unique premise.
The movie becomes predictable, and the ending attempts to convey depth but ends up feeling cliché and awkward, ultimately ruining a character. Most characters were poorly developed to begin with. On a positive note, the detailed and gruesome death scenes are a highlight, though they sometimes border on unrealistic. Overall, the story is a mixed bag—half intriguing, half disappointing—which brings down the entire experience. It earns a 6/10 for its flashes of potential and the gore-filled sequences.
I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re curious about how the manga fell short or want to see remnants of a good idea. Calling it a “Thinking Man’s Battle Royale” would be an insult to the genre. The plot revolves around a large group of high school students hypnotized after watching a video. They must follow 100 “Signal” rules, or they risk killing themselves violently. The last survivor is freed from the hypnosis. One rule prohibits violence, so they can’t attack each other directly. Their teacher kills himself after explaining the rules, leaving the students to figure out the remaining signals on their own, giving the more analytical students an edge.
Cast director: Lisa Takeba
Cast actor: Kanna Hashimoto, Yuta Koseki, Toshiki Seto, Shido Nakamura, Masaki Nakao, Shodai Fukuyama, Keisuke Nakata, Aina Yamada, Yumi Wakatsuki, Kou Maehara
Original name: シグナル 100