Overview
A seemingly perfect couple hides a dark and twisted secret beneath their generous facade.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- grotesque
- hysterical
- blackly comic
- late night horror
- extreme cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the committed performances, especially Denden, and the film’s darkly comic stylization, while finding its excessive length and hysterical violence uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Murata’s fish-store operation turns murder, commerce, and performance into a macabre public-private spectacle.
Shamoto is drawn into Murata’s criminal system while attempting to protect his family and preserve normality.
Critics specifically describe the considerable gore as cartoonish, while the film uses dark comedy amid rivers of viscera.
The Muratas first appear as generous fish-store owners before their horrific criminal reality emerges.
Films like Cold Fish, and why
The House That Jack Built
Shared grotesque crime, psychological collapse, blackly comic excess, and confrontational violence.
Maniac
Shared serial-killer subject matter, stylized gore, moral disintegration, and transgressive dark humor.
Visitor Q
Shared japanese extreme cinema, social breakdown, escalating brutality, and surreal tonal instability.
Audition
Shared claustrophobic domestic dysfunction, criminal violence, and psychologically harrowing thriller atmosphere.
Movie Details
- Director
- Sion Sono
- Release Date
- 2011-01-29
- Runtime
- 146 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (423)
Cast
- Mitsuru Fukikoshi
- Denden
- Asuka Kurosawa
- Megumi Kagurazaka
- Hikari Kajiwara
- Tetsu Watanabe
- Tarō Suwa
- Jyonmyon Pe
- Masahiko Sakata
- Natsumi Seto
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Cold Fish about?
- A passive fish-shop owner is pulled into a predatory couple’s murderous underworld in a grotesque, blackly comic descent into social collapse.
- What is Cold Fish like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Cold Fish as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Cold Fish violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Cold Fish as graphic.
- What did critics think of Cold Fish?
- Critics broadly praised the committed performances, especially Denden, and the film’s darkly comic stylization, while finding its excessive length and hysterical violence uneven.
- Which films are like Cold Fish?
- Films with a similar feel include The House That Jack Built, Maniac, Visitor Q, and Audition.
- How long is Cold Fish?
- Cold Fish runs 146 minutes.
- Where can I watch Cold Fish?
- In United States, Cold Fish is available to rent or buy from Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube.
