The Forbidden Play

Following the death of his mother in a car accident, a young boy attempts to bring her back to life using a resurrection spell and a physical remain buried in the garden. When a former colleague of the father visits the home, she witnesses the child performing the ritual. This innocent attempt to reunite a family instead awakens a malevolent entity, leading to a series of strange and frightening occurrences around the visitor.

This Japanese horror thriller was directed by Hideo Nakata, marking the 15th of 18 films in his career. It follows his 2022 project Usogui and precedes Stolen Identity: The Last Hacker from 2024. The screenplay was written by Noriaki Sugihara. The film stars Kanna Hashimoto as Hiroko Kurasawa, Daiki Shigeoka as Naoto Ihara, and Minato Shougaki as Haruto Ihara, with supporting roles played by Mayu Hotta, Shinobu Hasegawa, and Kenta Izuka.

The movie has received a mixed to negative response from viewers. On IMDb, it holds a rating of 4.5/10 based on 410 votes, while on TMDB, it has a slightly higher score of 5.5/10 from 39 votes.