#Manhole (2023) review – Watchable anime-style mystery with massive logic leaps

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are taking a look at a J-Horror from 2023 called #Manhole. Directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, this movie is, obviously, a few years old but it seems to only be hitting Western streaming services now, so I figured we should take a quick look.

A J-Horror movie that doesn’t rekindle the glory days

#Manhole follows the story of a young man, Shunsuke (Yûto Nakajima), who, on the day before his wedding, falls down an uncovered manhole while on a night out with friends. Desperate for help, he reaches out to social media for assistance.

Does #Manhole manage to capture some of the glory days of J-Horror? Well, to be perfectly honest, no. This is a movie that I couldn’t have imagined releasing during Japan’s horror heyday. It’s just too far separated from the ghost stories and psychological horror movies that made the country so renowned within the genre.

#Manhole is a much lighter affair. At its heart, in fact, it is more of a thriller mystery than an actual traditional horror movie. With that being said, those of you who enjoy single-location horror should be suitably pleased. The vast majority of the events of the movie take place inside of a manhole after Shunsuke managed to fall in. Shunsuke has a phone and access to social media, something which he utilises in his attempt to escape.

The plot has a lot of logic fails

Naturally, the entire plot of this movie will have you immediately screaming at your television. Why the hell doesn’t he simply phone the police and get himself out of there? Well, the truth is, he does do that, among other things. The movie ties itself in knots to try and avoid resorting to the most obvious solution, making virtually no sense in the process and taking a number of dramatic storytelling leaps to convince the viewer that this scenario is anything other than entirely implausible.

It’s a bit frustrating, really. There is obviously an ultimate goal in having Shunsuke stuck down here. The movie does go in a rather unexpected direction, too. But it is impossible to escape the feeling that the whole thing is just kind of farcical.

“Naturally, the entire plot of this movie will have you immediately screaming at your television. Why the hell doesn’t he simply phone the police?”

This is a pretty poorly written movie, if I am being honest. Frustratingly so, in fact. There is a vague attempt to tie things up at the end. It still makes no sense though, and takes numerous leaps of logic to actually have any kind of buy-in into the plot.

Definitely some positives

If you can push aside just how ridiculous the whole thing is, #Manhole can be quite enjoyable. Something I have noticed with Japanese horror as of late, is that it seems to be leaning into plots and styles that you would find in an anime. #Manhole is no different.

Even the use of language and shot types, here, are reminiscent of a Shonen anime series. If that is something you enjoy, you will likely appreciate a lot of what this movie has to offer, especially some of the more comedic scenes. #Manhole elicits a few laughs on more than one occasion.

“Something I have noticed with Japanese horror, as of late, is that it seems to be leaning into plots and styles that you would find in an anime. #Manhole is no different.”

I did appreciate the switch-up in the story. I was starting to get very bored of the “Shunsuke tries to get out, fails, speaks to someone on the phone, tries to get out, fails” cycle that the movie was following.

Again, the revelations make no sense at all. But they are welcome, especially if you can suspend disbelief for an hour or so. Writer Michitaka Okada absolutely nailed the online comments, as well. This is exactly how the world’s web denizens would react to this situation.

The story’s secrets unravel at a pretty considered pace. This makes the second half of the movie a lot more enjoyable than the first as you are constantly being drip-fed new bits of information. Again, you will roll your eyes frequently, especially when the movie struggles to tie up many of its loose ends. But, if you can turn your brain off for a little, it can be a pretty fun movie.

Can be boring but picks up eventually

Again, I can’t emphasise this enough, the plot is ridiculous and makes no sense. Even if you enjoy the movie, that fact will be at the forefront of your mind. The first half of the film can be extremely boring. There is a heavy reliance on milking the severity of Shunsuke’s situation to create drama. Something which is very hit-or-miss as it is almost impossible to actually convince yourself that he is truly trapped.

There are a ton of plot inconsistencies, continuity issues, leaps of logic, and points that are simply not expounded on at all, which can be very frustrating. It also lacks in tension, as it is almost impossible to build Shunsuke’s predicament into anything legitimately concerning or worrying.

As a fan of J-Horror of old, I found it a bit jarring how juvenile the dialogue was. I got the distinct sense that this movie was aimed at teens. Despite the cast being in their thirties. #Manhole feels extremely slow for much of its length, as well. The plot is very back-ended, so the front half feels rather empty. Some will definitely tire very quickly of the location, as well.

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