Overview
A haunting exploration of obsession and the dark side of desire unfolds in Tokyo's shadows.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- brooding
- eerie
- oppressive
- late night horror viewing
- halloween
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as an audacious, hauntingly beautiful Japanese horror work whose slow psychological buildup makes its grisly final movement especially devastating.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Shigeharu's seemingly conventional search for a wife gradually becomes an unnerving encounter with Asami's hidden history and motives.
The film spends much of its runtime on grief, loneliness, dating, and the sham audition before erupting into sustained torture and violence.
Shigeharu's unresolved grief over his wife and desire for companionship lead him to participate in a deceptive audition and idealize Asami.
The fake film casting process turns dating into a staged evaluation, exposing the power imbalance between Shigeharu and the women he considers.
Films like Audition, and why
misery
Shares a slow-burning psychological horror structure that turns intimate relationship drama into brutal, unsettling terror.
the hand that rocks the cradle
Combines restrained psychological suspense, gendered violence, revenge, and a disturbing transformation of domestic intimacy.
ring
Shares japanese psychological horror, eerie atmosphere, ambiguous reality, and a gradual escalation from ordinary life into dread.
oldboy
Both use domestic relationships, unreliable emotional perceptions, and extreme violence to examine obsession and revenge.
Movie Details
- Director
- Takashi Miike
- Release Date
- 2000-03-03
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (1860)
Cast
- Ryo Ishibashi
- Eihi Shiina
- Jun Kunimura
- Tetsu Sawaki
- Renji Ishibashi
- Miyuki Matsuda
- Toshie Negishi
- Yuriko Hirooka
- Shigeru Saiki
- Ken Mitsuishi
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, AsianCrush, Hi-YAH, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, RetroCrush Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel, ARROW
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Audition about?
- A lonely widower’s carefully staged search for a new wife becomes a devastating descent into obsession, revenge, and psychological horror.
- What is Audition like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Audition as slow, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Audition violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Audition as graphic.
- What did critics think of Audition?
- Critics broadly regard the film as an audacious, hauntingly beautiful Japanese horror work whose slow psychological buildup makes its grisly final movement especially devastating.
- Which films are like Audition?
- Films with a similar feel include misery, the hand that rocks the cradle, ring, and oldboy.
- How long is Audition?
- Audition runs 115 minutes.
- Where can I watch Audition?
- In United States, Audition streams on Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, AsianCrush, Hi-YAH, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, RetroCrush Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel, ARROW.
