Best Wishes To All is directed by Yûta Shimotsu, and the cast includes Kotone Furukawa, Koya Matsudai. Masashi Arifuku, Yoshiko Inuyama, Kazuo Hashimoto, Shiho Yoshimura, Hirofumi Nishida
My Thoughts On Best Wishes To All
The film is about a nursing student who visits her grandparents in their isolated hometown, only to be pulled back into traumatic memories and a family secret. It’s the kind of setup that horror fans eat up - family, trauma, rural isolation, and a mystery that’s supposed to keep you guessing.
At first, Shimotsu does a pretty good job of establishing a dense, oppressive atmosphere. The grandparents house practically oozes menace, and the way the film moves between the protagonist’s childhood trauma and her adult return adds a psychological dimension that you’d expect from a story trying to be more than just jump scares. The past bleeding into the present, memory warping reality - that’s classic horror territory, and when done well, it can be really powerful.
But here’s where the film wobbles a bit. Once the big mystery is revealed, the narrative takes a turn that feels less like a clever twist and more like everyone suddenly deciding to play a cryptic joke on the main character. Our protagonist ends up looking like the lone sane person surrounded by a cast of characters who all seem to have agreed on a secret handshake no one bothered to explain to the audience.
It’s a bit of a letdown because this dynamic should ratchet up the tension and paranoia, but instead, it sometimes just feels confusing or, worse, arbitrary. There’s this pervasive sense that the film is daring us to “figure it out,” but without giving us the tools we need to do so.
Or perhaps I am thick?
Best Wishes To All is definitely a film that aims high though, as it probes the lengths to which people will go for happiness and success, inviting you to consider the costs of such pursuits. It’s a fascinating concept, and one that should give the film some weight beyond its horror trappings. Unfortunately, the execution doesn’t always follow through though.
The grandparents behavior for example is left frustratingly vague. It’s as if the film is banking on cultural nuance or symbolism that might not translate perfectly, which leaves non-Japanese viewers scratching their heads and wondering if they missed something important.
The acting is a mixed bag, too. Kotone Furukawa, playing the granddaughter, is the film’s anchor and most reliable emotional touchstone. She embodies innocence and growing fear with subtlety and conviction, making it easy to empathize with her character’s confusion and terror. Without her grounded performance, the film might have slipped completely into melodrama or camp.
And speaking of camp, the supporting cast splits between understated menace and almost theatrical eccentricity. This tonal inconsistency is distracting and makes it hard to fully immerse yourself in the story at times. You’re left wondering if the director was aiming for unsettling surrealism or if some of it just came off as uneven direction.
I did love the rural setting though, and it is gorgeously captured, providing a stark contrast to the disturbing events unfolding within the grandparents home. And in an age where CGI often falls flat or looks cheap, the tactile, hands-on effects the film portrays are refreshing and quite chilling. They evoke a visceral horror reminiscent of classics like Audition or The Wicker Man, films known for their slow-burn tension and unsettling imagery.
Best Wishes to All is a meditation on family, trauma, and the dark bargains people make in the quest for happiness, sometimes sacrificing everything. Shimotsu and Kakuta craft a story full of atmosphere and promise, but the film’s mythology feels incomplete. It asks a lot of questions but delivers few answers, and while I do not mind ambiguity at all, I did want more in that aspect to make it feel more worthwhile.
But for a debut, Shimotsu shows a lot of potential, and if you enjoy horror that’s more psychological and atmospheric than splashy and fast-paced, this could be a rewarding watch.
In the end, Best Wishes to All isn’t perfect, far from it. It’s uneven, sometimes confusing, and its tone wavers. But it’s also bold, atmospheric, and thoughtfully disturbing. It’s a film that sticks with you, not because it answers all your questions, but because it leaves you haunted by the ones it doesn’t. And if horror doesn’t leave you feeling a little unsettled and curious, then what’s the point?