New Group blends biting social satire with true horror
Anyone familiar with Yûta Shimotsu's first film, Best Wishes to All, which played the film festival rounds before arriving on Shudder, knows that the director has a knack for biting social commentary and satire mixed with startling imagery. This is also true of his second feature, New Group. This time, there's no gradual build-up to the high-level satirical tone. The movie starts out at a ten and doesn't relent. In this latest work, Shimotsu tackles conformity, and the movie gives a serious Invasion of the Body Snatchers' vibe, with the dark humor that's becoming a trademark of Shimotsu's work.
New Group stars Anna Yamada as high school student Ai. She's on the cusp of graduation and faced with one decision after another. What will she do after high school? Where will she attend college? Should she intervene when a group of bullies and mean girls kicks another student, who crouches in the corner and cries? Throughout most of her academic career, Ai remained reserved and did what she had to do to avoid the wrath of bullies, but as a result, she was mostly a passive bystander.
Before we're fully immersed in Ai's high school world, however, the movie opens with a rash of disturbing images. Adults and teens laugh manically and lash out at others, including those who don't conform. They even mock the houseless. It's a jolting opening, but we soon learn it's all Ai's dream, or so we think. From there, we're transported into the hallways and classrooms of her high school, where she soon befriends transfer student Yu (Yuzu Aoki). Unlike Ai, he's not willing to sit on the sidelines. When the bullies torment a fellow classmate, he does interject and saves her. He also accuses Ai of being an accomplice by not doing anything.
Soon, Yu and Ai encounter students on their school's athletic fields who form strange and uncanny human pyramids. What starts with one student quickly grows into large triangles. These scenes are incredibly unnerving, especially when nearly every adult demands that the remaining rebellious students, including Yu and Ai, conform and join the pyramid. Yu and Ai continually refuse, and at one point, they're chased in the hallways by their fellow classmates who inch forward and encroach upon their space, demanding they join the crowd.
The commentary here isn't exactly subtle. With New Group, Shimotsu tackles conformity and group think and to a lesser extent, nationalism. There's even a moment where a suited man breaks into a song about groups and countries. There's no explanation given about the human pyramid as a visual choice, but there doesn't really mean to be. It's potent and chilling to watch all of these students and adults, even the ones who eventually spoke out, conform. This is always a timely topic, including right now, in the age of AI and nationalism gripping so many countries. Shimotsu doesn't really do anything new with the concept that hasn't been done before. Sure, his visuals, even the CGI ones, really pop, but this theme is quite familiar to the horror genre. Additionally, the movie begins at such a high pitch from the get-go that it's tough to shock viewers after Ai's horrific dream sequence within the film's first two minutes.
That said, Shimotsu continues to be one of the most interesting newer directors making genre films, especially because he isn't afraid to weave social commentary with haunting and wildly strange visuals, with a dose of dark humor. Additionally, Aoki and Yamada are strong and compelling in the lead roles. It's great watching Ai slowly evolve because of Yu's non-conformist attitude and sense of morality. Though the film doesn't completely do anything different thematically, it's absolutely worth a watch for Shimotsu's undeniable satirical flair and his knack for blending comedy with true horror.
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