The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
Homunculus
Drama · Thriller · Fantasy · 2021
A homeless man meets a medical school student who pays him to volunteer for a surgical procedure known as trepanation, drilling a hole in his skull, which ends up giving him the ability to communicate with the dark side of people’s subconscious minds.
Movie details
Homunculus
2021 Drama · Thriller · Fantasy 1h 59m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.0 / 10
Community rating
A homeless man meets a medical school student who pays him to volunteer for a surgical procedure known as trepanation, drilling a hole in his skull, which ends up giving him the ability to communicate with the dark side of people’s subconscious minds.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Homunculus?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Before I Wake
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An orphaned child's dreams—and nightmares—manifest physically as he sleeps.
Dangerous Drugs of Sex
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Raging Grace
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An undocumented Filipina immigrant lands a job as a careworker for a seemingly terminal old man, securing a better life for her and her daughter. But a dark discovery threatens to destroy everything she’s strived for and holds dear.
Werewolf: The Beast Among Us
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The Garden of Sinners: Overlooking View
Animation · 2007
The story starts following an incident: a young girl jumps from the top of a building. The image provokes a certain dread, as the girl appears to have been a corpse even before she jumped. The case is dismissed, yet more and more of these suicides occur, and all from the same building. Thus began the rumour, that a ghost inhabited the rooftop of the building.
Hypnotic
Thriller · 2021
A young woman seeking self-improvement enlists the help of a renowned hypnotist but, after a handful of intense sessions, discovers unexpected and deadly consequences.
The Vanishing
Thriller · 1993
The boyfriend of an abducted woman never gives up the search as the abductor looks on.
Parasyte: Part 2
Sci-fi · 2015
Humanity is under attack by human-mimicking flesh-eating alien parasites. One parasite bonds with his young high school student host, and he convinces the parasite to help him stop the others.
The Ritual
Horror · 2025
Two priests, one in crisis with his faith and the other confronting a turbulent past, must overcome their differences to perform a risky exorcism.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Takashi Shimizu
Written by
Eisuke Naito · Takashi Shimizu · Naruki Matsuhisa
Go Ayano
Susumu Nakoshi
Ryo Narita
Manabu Itou
Yukino Kishii
Mysterious woman
Anna Ishii
Female High School Student 1775
Seiyo Uchino
Kumicho
Y
Yumiko Nakamura
Cast
Court is in session
Put Homunculus on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.