Three... Extremes

A film made of three horror stories by three different directors. The first is set in Hong Kong. A former television actress afraid of ageing finds a woman who makes a special dumpling said to restore youth. What is inside the dumpling becomes clear quickly and the story moves from there between disgust and desire. The second is South Korean. A successful director wakes up tied in his own house. The man facing him worked as an extra in his films and wants one thing: for the director to admit that he too is a bad person. It plays in a single location and is built like a scene from a play. The third is Japanese. A writer has a recurring dream: a box under the snow with herself inside it. The narrative goes back to her childhood, her twin and a circus tent. This one is the quietest and explains nothing. The three parts were made by Fruit Chan, Park Chan-wook and Takashi Miike in that order. None of the three keeps to limits, but their styles are very different, and the film treats that difference as the point rather than a fault. A solid choice for anyone who likes Asian horror and short film collections. Before you watch, know this: the first part in particular aims openly to turn your stomach.