Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2012

This is one of the year’s most highly anticipated live-action J-flicks. Based on Kyoko Okazaki’s manga of the same name that won the 2004 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, it marks both Mika Ninagawa and Erika Sawajiri’s return to film. Photographer Ninagawa made her directorial debut with the acclaimed Sakuran in 2006 but has not directed since. Sawajiri was basically hounded out of film after her disastrous handling of the press for Closed Note in 2007, an abomination that consisted of her (gasp!) telling the truth.

The story revolves around Ririko (Sawajiri), the latest “it” girl. However, her stunning looks are completely due to plastic surgery, which she has had all over her body. Pushed to live the perfect life, Ririko’s psychological state begins to break down when the shoddy surgeries start to come undone. Her world is even more threatened when new and beautiful model Kozue (Kiko Mizuhara) arrives on the scene.

Some may think the story a mirror of Sawajiri’s life, but it’s far more a critique of Japanese pop culture and the obsession with beauty than with her. Laced with sex and sumptuous colors (like Sakuran), it is dragged down by some scenes with melodramatic fights and dialog. Still, Helter Skelter makes enough of a point, and is produced well enough, to hold your attention throughout. (127 min)