‘Wash Away’: Japanese Folk Horror Purifies the Soul

From Midnight to I Saw the Devil, Finecut keeps supplying the market with bold horror… if only audiences were as adventurous with subtitles as buyers are.

The Korean sales company is heading to EFM with their latest horror offering, the Japanese-language Wash Away, about a coupleʼs relaxing trip to a remote lakeside resort that turns into a nightmare when they unknowingly become entangled in the resortʼs bizarre belief that its water can purify human souls.

First-time feature director Takuya Miyahara uses the premise to examine Japan’s so-called Satori Generation – young people grappling with defeatism amid the country’s economic decline and demographic challenges, writes Variety. The film probes how despair can drive individuals toward dangerous forms of denial and disengagement from reality.

The cast features Jingi Irie, known for Tokyo Revengers 2: Bloody Halloween – Destiny, as a withdrawn vacationer who grows suspicious of the resort’s atmosphere. Makoto Tanaka of “Michikusa” portrays his partner, who becomes increasingly distant as dark revelations emerge. It’s said to follow the two vacationers’ “encounter with sinister forces tied to local folklore.”

Above you’ll find the first shot from the film.

Wash Away is in post-production, with Finecut planning to screen early footage for buyers during the European Film Market.