Expired February 13, 2023 7:59 AM
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◆Introduction◆

A story about a girl brainwashed by a cult, based on Aum Shinrikyo incident which terrorized and murdered a lot of people in Japan. In 1995, a new religion cult named Aum Shinrikyo, terrorized and murdered a lot of people in Japan by Sarin Gas attack. Over 6000 people were injured, and 14 people were murdered. Aum Shinrikyo committed a lot of crime not only to the society, but also within the cult. Aum murdered many followers within the cult and hide that, and also squeezed all the money their family had. They took away the future from many young people. The theme of this films is “If there is a cult similar to Aum Shinrikyo now in Japan, what would happen and how will people be influenced?”


.◆Synopsis◆

Hana is a 24 years old new graduate employee working as an office worker. After joining the company, she realized that she was tricked into joining the company by hiding the fact that it was a multi-level marketing company. She was deeply shocked to know that. And one day, she was sexually assaulted by her boss.She was deeply traumatized, and the stress causes her to see hallucinations of ghosts. Meanwhile, a cult called Nirvana was popular among young people. She decides to join Nirvana in search of her salvation.


◆Theme of this film◆

This film consists of a fictional part and a documentary footage.The fictional part describes a girl who suffered from sexual violence working in a company, asks for help and brainwashed by a cult named Nirvana. In the documentary footage, we interviewed one of Aum’s successor groups, “Hikari no Wa”, as well as the wife of death row prisoner Tomomitsu Niimi, who was the Aum’s executive member executed July 6, 2018. This film opens the photo of a death row prisoner’s remain after execution, and his notes and letters to the public for the first time. The name of Aum Shinrikyo's founder is Shoko Asahara, who was a Yoga teacher. He changed his Yoga class into a cult little by little. The executive members of Aum who terrorized and murdered a lot of people, including Yoshihiro Inoue, Tomomitsu Niimi, Shoko Asahara were all executed in July 2018. Aum Shinrikyo split off after the incident, and as of 2022, the Aum’s successor group is still active under a different name. But, about 30 years passed, now people are losing their memories in Japan. In this situation, in 2022, Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese prime minister, was shot dead. Because the murder suspect’s mother was a member of a cult, and she contributed all the money to the cult, his family was broken. So he had a grudge against Shinzo Abe, thought to be associated with the cult. That’s reported by TV news every day.In response to this news, the brainwashing by the cult is getting attention now again in Japan. By looking back the Aum Shinrikyo Incident, we hope the same thing should never be repeated again.


◆What is "Makyo" ?◆

When people are trying hard to achieve their goals, people sometimes become arrogant and selfish, or feel "I'm special". That's called "Makyo" in Zen meditation.

  • Runtime
    109 minutes
  • Country
    Japan
  • Director
    Tomojiro Amano