The Discarnates

Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1988 Japanese film follows a recently divorced screenwriter. He meets the parents he lost as a child; both are the age at which they died and receive him at home as though nothing had happened. The rule is that every visit has a price. The more he sees them the weaker he becomes, and those around him notice; the narrative builds this not as horror but as a question of being unable to let go. It is adapted from a novel, and the same source was filmed again years later in another country. Obayashi's visual games are used sparingly here; the tone is melancholy and the closing section changes genre. Who it's for: those who like Japanese fantastical drama and narratives about grief. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a consistent tone; the film swerves abruptly into horror at the end.