Ju-on: The Beginning of the End (呪怨: 終わりの始まり, Ju-on: Owari no Hajimari) is a 2014 Japanese supernatural horror film and the tenth installment of the Ju-on franchise. The film was directed and co-written by Masayuki Ochiai with Takashige Ichise producing and co-writing.[2]The Beginning of the End is a reboot of the series, retelling the events of the cursed Saeki family that centers on a house in Nerima, Japan.
Continuing the trademark of the series, Beginning of the End is divided into eight segments presented in an anachronistic order, each titled after a character central to that segment. They are, in the following order: Yui (結衣), Nanami (七海), Kayako (伽椰子), Yayoi (弥生), Rina (莉奈), Aoi (葵), Naoto (直人), and Toshio (俊雄). The synopsis presents a rough chronology of the film's plot.
In 1995 Tokyo, after a report of possible child abuse happening in the Yamaga household, authorities and the schoolteacher of the family's son, Toshio, search the household and find Toshio dead in the bedroom closet.
Nine years later, a group of high school students: Nanami, Yayoi, Aoi, and Rina, visit the former Yamaga house, now sold to Aoi's older sister. Nanami is fearful of entering due to rumors of the house being haunted. While the others find drawings depicting themselves suffering horrific deaths and are merely amused, Nanami hears a noise and sees a vile black liquid. She tries to escape but the revenant of Toshio seizes her. Unaware of what has transpired, her friends leave. Yayoi is later dragged away by Toshio in the infirmary. Nanami and Aoi find Rina after she has gone insane since the house visit. Rina is then also taken by Toshio's ghost, having apparently materialised in the refrigerator. Aoi's brother-in-law, Kyosuke, is concerned that Aoi has visited the house. In the bathroom, Toshio kills Aoi by tearing off her mandible and leaving it for her sister to find. Nanami is terrorized by the specters of her dead friends on a train; before being herself dragged away and killed offscreen. Meanwhile, Aoi's sister sells the house to a couple named Takeo and Kayako Saeki.
Ten years later, an elementary schoolteacher, Yui Shono, is assigned to replace Mr. Konishi as a homeroom teacher. She is concerned when she finds that a student, Toshio Saeki, has been absent for a week and decides to visit the Saeki household. She meets Toshio's mother, Kayako, who acts strangely, and she finds the bedroom closet has been sealed up with tape. Yui is disturbed by Kayako's behavior and hastily leaves. She is informed the next day that Mr. Konishi has died. She has hallucinations of Toshio and finds Kayako's diary. Her boyfriend, Naoto Miyakoshi, reads the diary, which reveals that Kayako, who could not have a child with Takeo, became pregnant when a boy in white "touched" her in a dream. He meets with the widowed Kyosuke, who inquires about the curse that claimed the lives of his wife and her sister, and finds out that Toshio Yamaga and Toshio Saeki both identify the same individual. Naoto is later killed by Kayako when Kayako snaps his neck clockwise.
Yui, having recovered, visits the Saeki household to seek vengeance and opens the closet, discovering a box of tapes that show the Saeki family's lives. One tape reveals that Kayako did indeed get pregnant not by Takeo, but by the spirit of Toshio Yamaga. Yui experiences flashbacks of Takeo murdering Kayako after he finds out he is not Toshio's father. She finds Kayako's body, who crawls towards her and is then cornered by both Kayako and Toshio. Suddenly, she wakes up back at her own apartment. She goes to the living room, only to find Naoto, with his head snapped, walking towards her and Toshio sitting on the kitchen table. Yui's fate is left unknown.
The film was first announced at a press conference held at Akagi Shrine in Tokyo in February 2014, following a spirit cleansing ceremony at the shrine. Filming began soon thereafter on March 4. Beginning of the End was released on June 28 in Japan. The film was screened in the West as part of Fantasia Festival at the same time.[3]
Reception
The film has grossed ¥226 million (US$1.90 million) at the Japanese box office.[4]
A sequel, Ju-On: The Final Curse, was promoted as the final installment in the Ju-on franchise. The film is again helmed by Masayuki Ochiai and stars Airi Taira as Mai Shono, the older sister of The Beginning of the End protagonist, Yui, who disappeared while visiting her pupil, Toshio Saeki. Kai Kobayashi and Misaki Saisho additionally return as Toshio and Kayako Saeki, respectively. The Final Curse was released on June 20, 2015.[5]
