Deep Down. No Way Out.
What would you do if you suddenly found yourself trapped at the bottom of a filthy manhole with no easy way out—and your wedding was just hours away?
That is the nightmare facing Shunsuke Kawamura, a successful young salesman whose life takes a terrifying turn in #Manhole, the tense Japanese thriller from director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri.
Kawamura has seemingly everything going for him. He is preparing to marry his longtime girlfriend, Mai Kudo, and spends the evening celebrating at a surprise party with friends. But after drinking too much, his journey home ends in disaster when he accidentally falls into a deep manhole with a broken ladder.
With no obvious way to climb out, Kawamura desperately tries to contact someone for help. His attempts repeatedly fail, leaving him trapped underground with time running out.
Determined to escape and make it to his wedding, Kawamura eventually turns to social media. In an increasingly desperate move, he creates an online persona posing as a helpless young woman in the hope that strangers will come to his rescue.
But the internet isn’t always the safe haven he expects.
As Kawamura’s situation becomes more desperate, he begins to discover that the people watching his online pleas may not have his best interests at heart. What initially appears to be a straightforward survival situation gradually develops into something far more disturbing.
#Manhole
- Director: Kazuyoshi Kumakiri
- Starring: Yuto Nakajima, Nao, Kento Nagayama, Haru Kuroki
- Genre: Drama, Thriller
- Runtime: 99 mins
- User Rating: ★ 6.3
A Tense Japanese Survival Thriller
Based on a screenplay by Michitaka Okada, #Manhole turns an extremely simple premise into a nerve-racking psychological thriller. Much of the film’s tension comes from Kawamura’s increasingly desperate attempts to escape while the walls literally—and figuratively- close in around him.
The film has been praised as “a claustrophobic nerve-wrecker” by Martin Kudlac of ScreenAnarchy, and its combination of survival suspense, social media paranoia and unexpected twists makes #Manhole a particularly unsettling watch.
Cast
The film stars:
- Yûto Nakajima as Shunsuke Kawamura — a young salesman who becomes trapped underground on the eve of his wedding.
- Nao as Mai Kudo — Kawamura’s fiancée.
- Kento Nagayama as Etsuro Kase
- Haru Kuroki as Natsumi Orihara
#Manhole is directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri and written by Michitaka Okada.
Deep Down. No Way Out.
What begins as an unfortunate accident quickly becomes a fight for survival as Kawamura realizes that getting out of the manhole may be only the beginning of his problems.
With its claustrophobic setting, psychological twists and dark look at the dangers of relying on strangers online, #Manhole delivers a gripping Japanese thriller that keeps the audience questioning who Kawamura can actually trust.
Ready to get trapped?
