Kaishaku

Kaishaku is the latest film from director Harry Locke IV that blends psychological thriller with supernatural horror to explore the ideas of guilt around assisted suicide. It looks at themes of financial depression and accountability while asking the question, how far will someone go to provide for their family?

The film follows Iris (Stefanie Estes) as she struggles to make ends meet for her son, Graham, (Archer Anderson) along with her husband, Jackson (Robbie Allen). Iris’ situation worsens until it reaches a climax where her friend Bridgette (Alyshia Ochse) offers her a large sum of money, if she will be the ‘spotter’ for her suicide. This creates a moral dilemma leading to a decision that haunts Iris for the rest of the film.

Kaishaku balances the psychological thriller genre with horror which leads to a mixed bag. When the film is exploring the former, it often feels predictable and one dimensional. The characters are serving their purpose and the ideas of financial depression, guilt and the greying of morality are underexplored. However, when the film embraces the supernatural, it begins to come into its own. There are some terrifying sequences of body horror that mirrors Iris’ childhood with her present situation as well as the haunting that follows her.

Where I find the film’s weaknesses lie, is in the writing. The dialogue feels incredibly stiff and it’s hard to feel there’s any believability to it. This is especially seen with the supposed friendship between Iris and Bridgette and the dialogue they share. It is clear that this friendship is one of means more than anything else which is something that does get paid off as the film progresses, yet the entire dynamic is unsettling to the point it could take viewers out of the film.

This also leads to Iris who is written in such a way that she doesn’t question anything. Of course in the horror genre there is a level of understanding one can give to this choice, but in Kaishaku it is pushed to a limit that at points feels ridiculous. Immediately when Iris’ situation financially improves drastically it appears that she barely thinks about her involvement until this bad luck begins to follow her.

The ending, however, is cathartic and there is certainly a very good film in here but the creative decisions at points hold it back. Harry Locke IV certainly proves that he is an impressive director with the opening passage and the dream sequences being shot masterfully well. It does however have glaring issues that could prevent viewers from overlooking them. For fans of supernatural horror, this is worth a watch but if psychological thriller is more your thing, I would give this a miss.

The director, Harry Locke IV, wrote and directed the short film, The Redeemer, which was reviewed by UK Film Review in 2020.