New Release Review – “Best Wishes To All”

Many short films are made as pitches for a potential feature film, and as such they tease an interesting concept while lacking the time to actually explore it in any detail. Working with co-writer Rumi Kakuta, director Yûta Shimotsu makes his feature debut, Best Wishes to All, by expanding his earlier short of the same name. While the feature length version develops the theme of the short, it never fully digs into what exactly it is it’s trying to address. Viewers may be left frustrated by a rushed final act, but for fans of extreme Japanese horror, Shimotsu’s debut is a must-see.

The initial setup seems like a Japanese riff on M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit. An unnamed student nurse (none of the…