Ring 0

Ring 0 is a Japanese horror drama that serves as a prequel to the Ringu series, set roughly thirty years before the events of the original story. It follows Sadako Yamamura, a shy and withdrawn young woman who joins a theatre troupe and draws the attention of its director because of her unusual talent. Her presence stirs jealousy among the other performers, while a journalist investigating Sadako's family becomes caught up in a series of strange occurrences and deaths. The film traces how Sadako came to be the vengeful figure at the centre of the later films, though it presents her less as a monster than as someone shaped by fear and hostility.

Norio Tsuruta directed, working from a screenplay by Hiroshi Takahashi. It is the first of the three features listed among Tsuruta's directing credits, ahead of Premonition in 2004 and The Perilous Internet Ring in 2020. Yukie Nakama plays Sadako, with Seiichi Tanabe as Hiroshi Tōyama, Kumiko Aso as Etsuko Tachihara, Yoshiko Tanaka as Akiko Miyaji, Takeshi Wakamatsu as Yūsaku Shigemori and Ryushi Mizukami as Wataru Kuno. Takashige Ichise, Shinji Ogawa and Masao Nagai produced.

Made for a budget of about six million dollars, the film took roughly twelve million dollars worldwide, a solid return on its cost. On IMDb it holds 6 out of 10 from more than 9,700 votes, and on TMDB 6.1 out of 10 from around 300 votes, indicating a moderate but steady reception among viewers.