2022 / 120m - Japan
Thriller
3.0*/5.0*
Usogui poster

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October 28, 2022

3.0*/5.0*

Hideo Nakata returns with a gambler epic. It's not that Nakata turned his back on horror cinema completely, but he's been branching out for quite a while now. Usogui is a pretty decent film, but it's also blockbuster fodder that lacks a real signature and can't compete with the better films in the genre.

Baku overplays his hand when he tries to become the leader of the Kakero organization, a wealthy club that oversees large bets. He is exiled and flees Tokyo, but a few years later he sees a path to rejoin the organization. For that, he will need all his skills and cunning because his adversaries are just as crafty as he is.

The elongated gambling scenes are pretty fun, the problem is that the outcome is always very predictable and the little twists aren't really all that genius. Performances are decent and the production values are high, but it's not really enough to make this one stand out. Solid and decent entertainment though.