ConfessionsMovies like Confessions
- Key Features:
- Revenge, Grief, Moral ambiguity, Psychological thriller, Middle school, Student, Teacher, Loss of a child, Japanese cinema, Mystery, Unreliable narrator, Social commentary, Violence-moderate
- Tone:
- serious, restrained, dramatic
- Target Audience:
- Fans of psychological thrillers, Viewers interested in Japanese cinema, Those who appreciate dark and unsettling stories, Viewers interested in themes of morality and revenge
- Emotional Arc:
- Grief → Vengeance → Revelation
Confessions

Devastated at the death of her four-year-old daughter, a grieving middle school teacher is horrified to discover that her students aren't as innocent as she thinks.
Confessions
When elementary school teacher Kobayashi investigates the absence of one of his young pupils from the classroom, he finds himself at the doorstep of an anonymous suburban house that harbours a horrible secret, and into which all who enter are doomed.

After having narrowly escaped an attempt on his life at the hands of a psychopath, detective inspector Takakura quits active service in the police force and takes up a position as a university lecturer in criminal psychology. But his desire to get to the bottom of criminals’ motives remains, and he does not hesitate long when former colleague Nogami asks him to reopen an old case.

Ichiko works as a private nurse for a family she almost became a part of. While Ichiko cares for the grandmother, she is also a confidant to Motoko, the eldest sister. But one day, Motoko’s younger sister disappears. And the media soon reveal the kidnapper to be Ichiko’s own nephew.

In Tokyo, Japan, several grotesque murders take place on rainy days. Detective Sawamura, who is in charge of the case, soon discovers that his own family is connected to the crimes.

When a school girl disappears, suicide is suspected, and one of her classmates is suspected of having goaded her into it.

Akane is a high school teacher who hears a rumor from her students that there is actual footage on the Internet of someone's suicide. The footage is said to drive anyone who sees it to also commit suicide. Akane does not believe the rumor at first, but when one of her female students dies after viewing the footage, she and her boyfriend Takanori are fatefully drawn into the horror that has been created by the man who appears in the suicide footage, Kashiwada. Kashiwada's intention is to create chaos in the world by bringing back Sadako and the power of her curse. Now Akane has to fight against Sadako and Kashiwada to save the lives of herself and Takanori.

After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.

An outwardly normal schoolteacher preys on suicidal women to slake his overwhelming thirst for human blood.

When Kanako, a model daughter and a brilliant student, disappears, her mother asks her ex-husband, a violent former policeman, to find her. As his investigation progresses, his idealized image of Kanako cracks: the girl hides a dark life that her father can not even imagine.

A school teacher visits the home of a boy who's been absent from school for a long period of time, unaware of the horrific tragedy which occurred in the boy's household many years ago.

Toshio hires Yasaka to work in his workshop. But then this old acquaintance, who has just been released from prison, begins to meddle in Toshio's family life.

Seiji Hasumi is a popular English teacher in a private high school. He is also a violent and sociopathic killer who concocts an extreme plan to deal with the rise of bullying and bad behavior among the student body.

A girl who lost her father to a serial killer, a detective and a killer are intertwined in a chaotic relationship and are met with an unprecedented series of events.

After his young son dies from the negligence at a hospital, Harry Fertig takes matters into his own hands and kills the doctor, nurse and clerk responsible. Slick lawyer Roy Bleakie, looking only to win a case and not caring of the matters involved, is asked by Fertig's boss to defend him. Shocked to hear that his client wants to plead guilty, the case causes Bleakie to question his own morals by defending an honorable man.

While stopped at a roadside phone booth for transmitting his work through the Internet to the university, Professor Hideki Satomi finds a scrap of newspaper with the picture of his five-year-old daughter Nana in the obituary section.

A newly appointed teacher finds herself being followed, and soon discovers that one of her own students is obsessed with her.

When a high school senior discovers her teacher is seducing her boyfriend, events turn deadly after the teacher tries to cover it up.

The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.

Following the events of Ju-on: The Beginning of the End, Mai, the older sister of elementary schoolteacher Yui Shono, goes to look for her sister, who disappeared after a year while working in an elementary school. Mai soon discovers the Teriyaki household who tells her about what happened to her sister. Mai will now uncover the dark secrets of Ju-on and will try to end the curse once and for all.

The story follows Nozaki Haruka, a middle school student who transfers to a new school in a small town because of her father's work. Unfortunately, she becomes a victim of horrific bullying, but since the school will be closing in 2 months after graduation, no one is willing to help her.

An apparitions of a young schoolgirl in a yellow rain hat, a family massacre, and a law student's suicide after he fails his bar exam are linked by the ominous recordings discovered on an audio cassette.

A tragedy strikes a young woman's life without warning or reason. She continues living while searching for meaning in a lonely world.

A serial killer reappears 15 years after his murder spree with a book detailing his crimes. The resentful cop who failed to catch him before is assigned to protect him. The families of the victims plan revenge. And as the media circus spirals out of control, a masked man called "J" appears claiming to be the real killer.

A mysterious creature destroys 70% of the moon. The creature then warns that if he is not destroyed by March of next year, Earth will be next. The creature also demands that he becomes the homeroom teacher for 3rd grade E class at Kunugigaoka Junior High School. The government is powerless to say no. The creature then becomes the homeroom teacher of 3rd grade E class which consists of failed students including Nagisa Shiota. The creature is called Teacher Koro. Meanwhile, the government requests that the students try to kill Teacher Koro even though he possesses super powers. The government offers a 10 billion yen reward for whomever successfully kills him. The students are confused by the situation, but decide to kill Teacher Koro. When their class begins with Teacher Koro, the students finds themselves having a good time with their new teacher.

When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.

When a social worker is sent to check on a traumatized elderly woman whose family have moved in at the site of a notorious murder case, she unwittingly unleashes a cycle of terror that transmits via its victims.

Ran’s secret past revealed! Ten years ago, something happened between her mom and dad. Now, plagued by nightmares, Ran is starting to remember… Meanwhile, a murderous card dealer breaks out of jail to seek revenge. His target: Ran’s father. Can Conan stop him in time and save his girlfriend’s family?

One day a mysterious box arrived and a curse began to spread all over. The source of the box is 'Jukai Village'. The village is hidden in Jukai Forest, a suicide spot that once you enter it, you can never come out.

A young pathologist seeks answers to the mysterious death of a friend and soon comes into contact with the same cursed videotape that caused the death of the friend's wife and son, which is haunted by the curse of Sadako, a relentless spirit.

Mi-ja, who has been taking care of a retired teacher, Ms. Park, invites several of her former students to her house 16 years after their graduation. Since the end of her teaching career, Park has been residing in the countryside, suffering from an illness while an ex-student, the kind and pretty Mi-ja cares for her.

A male corpse is discovered with a smashed face and burned hands. Strangely, the cause of death is determined to be strangulation. When Detective Kaoru Utsumi attempts to corroborate the victim’s ex-wife’s alibi she discovers the mysterious neighbor and only a few small clues to help her disprove a seemingly "airtight" alibi...

The principal of an elementary school calls a special parents meeting after it’s alleged that the seemingly empathetic and kindly-looking teacher Mrs. Drazděchová uses her students to manipulate their parents.

Mitsuko, a young student, encounters a series of horrifying incidents set in alternate realities where people wind up dead in the most horrendous fashion.

In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge the death of his father. He isn't an accomplished swordsman however, and he prefers sharing the life of the residents, teaching the kids how to write etc. When he finally finds the man he is looking for, he will have to decide whether he follows the way of the samurai or chooses peace and reconciliation.

When 54 high school girls throw themselves in front of a subway train it appears to be only the beginning of a string of suicides around the country. Detective Kuroda tries to find the answer to this mystery, which isn't as simple as he had hoped.

Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.

A married woman with a lovely daughter lives a carefree life, until she meets her ex-lover at a friend’s wedding. They haven’t seen each other in ten years, but they begin an affair.

Tells the story of the samurai Gengobe, who seeks revenge after falling prey to the schemes of a geisha and her husband.

Legend holds that 30 years ago, a suburban town was terrorized by the spirit of a woman whose horrid face had been grotesquely disfigured. Roaming the streets wearing a long coat and carrying large scissors, the spirit would approach her young victims and, while removing the mask, ask if she was pretty. The victim’s response would almost always lead to their violent death.

Beautiful Noriko Miki works at a cosmetic company. One day, Noriko is murdered. People begin to suspect her co-worker Miki Shirono might have killed her. Television begins to cover her story. A TV show interviews Miki Shirono's colleagues, family, people from her hometown. Rumors turn into fear. Is she a wicked a woman?

A Japanese actress begins having strange visions and experiences after landing a role in a horror film about a real-life murder spree that took place over forty years ago.

Eccentric and full of manias, Michele is a young high school professor who defines himself as “not used to happiness”. He realizes his life is meaningless if he doesn’t have a woman by his side but, after a series of rather disastrous experiences, he feels more alone than ever. Then, out of the blue, a new French teacher called Bianca arrives at school. Amongst uncertainties and contradictions, the two start dating. In the meantime, a series of homicides take place and a police officer begins to suspect that Michele is involved. Bianca will save him providing an alibi at the right moment, but then, everything goes wrong again.

A G8 meeting is being held at a luxury hotel on the German coast. The world's most powerful economists are gathered to enact important provisions that will deeply influence the world economy. One of the guests is a mysterious Italian monk, invited by Daniel Rochè, the director of the International Monetary Fund. He wants the monk to receive his confession, that night, in secret. The next morning, Rochè is found dead...

A detective investigates a series of murders. A possible serial killer might be on a rampage, since they all are in the same vicinity and by the same method, but as the evidence points toward the detective as the prime suspect, a ghost in red follows him, and he begins to question his identity. His realization of what seems to have really happened results in something much more sinister and larger in scope, and it leaves his psyche scarred.

Following a humiliating plagiarism scandal, an author moves to an isolated small-town house with her daughter to write her comeback novel. Desperate for inspiration, she communicates with a mysterious ghostly presence that has befriended her daughter.

A divorced teacher suddenly becomes jealous of everyone, including her daughter, friends and neighbors.

In a city of love and prosperity, a city of lost hope and premature death, veteran detective Hei feels it all: the hurt, the helplessness, the horror. When his father-in-law, the billionaire benefactor Kim, is gruesomely murdered in his palatial mansion, he enlists the assistance of his former partner turned private detective.

The supernatural grudge manifests itself by way of a strange cyst growing in the body of a young woman, slowly draining all life from her in revenge for... what?

Facing goodbyes and graduation, Naomi Nakashima, her childhood friend Satoshi Mochida, and their classmates, are clearing up after their last ever cultural festival, when horror buff class representative Ayumi Shinozaki decides to perform Sachiko Ever After so they will stay friends forever. Instead, they were whisked away to a haunted graduation ceremony for Heavenly Host Elementary School, forced to close after a series of gruesome murders. What fate awaits Naomi and her friends at the cursed school...?

A psychotic executive triggers a journalist's dark side, and they begin to form a strange bond through the internet.

Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?

A woman's child is kidnapped and killed after paying the ransom. 15 years later, a mysterious figure is seen visiting the site of killing and another kidnapping occurs using the same methods. The woman teams up with a detective to catch the killer once and for all.

A smart high school student falls in love with her English teacher after she receives one-on-one tutoring from him.

Shuhei is leading a tough life. His alcoholic mother Akiko can only hook up with bad guys and order Shuhei to go get money from his disapproving grandparents instead of going to school. Except raising the little half-sister, his rock-bottom life seems to have no end.

Pietro is a revered teacher, Teresa his brilliant and precocious student. Their affair is both illicit and tempestuous. After one fight, Teresa suggests that each tell the other a secret, one so shameful or shocking that were it to be made public, it would destroy that person’s life. Time passes, Pietro’s stature as a writer grows and his family settles into the comfort of a bourgeois life. But he is haunted by the possibility that Teresa may one day reappear and tear apart his world with the secret she knows.

Six high schoolers stuck in a murderous time loop must find the scattered remains of an unknown victim to break the curse and finally see another day.

A high school teacher whose wife is about to give birth finds himself tangled in temptation and obsession when a student falls for him.

While practicing after hours in her high school, an aspiring singer is mysteriously killed and her body vanishes. Her invisible ghost is trapped in the school, but her best friend is able to hear her voice.

A few days before the baccalaureate, a high school student decides to settle accounts with the most cowardly teacher in the school.

A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.

To nab a sales manager who's at large after murdering his family, a detective investigates the man's colleagues, who seem to be hiding something.

Forensic pathologist Kang is assigned to examine the dismembered corpse of a female murder victim. Detective Min points to a fanatic environmentalist, Lee Sung-ho, as the primary suspect. But when Kang’s daughter is kidnapped, a manipulative game begins between Kang and Lee, who holds secrets about the homicide case.

The upper torso of a female, claws her way around Japan searching for her lower half. The person's lower half was severed in a train accident in Hokkaido. Anyone that hears of this story will see Teke-Teke's upper half walking aimlessly around the countryside within three days.

The timid, young Asuka is bullied by her classmates. When they embark on a class field trip to Korea, Asuka plans revenge by sending them a cursed phone message they can either pass on or die.

Teacher Nancy's life with her husband in Holland, Michigan, tumbles into a twisted tale when she and a colleague become suspicious of a secret.

A David's classmate, Jochem, is harassed by three bullies, but nobody does anything at school, not even David, who feels guilty for not pointing out the culprits.

A Japanese girl struggling to fit in at her new school teams up with a reclusive neighbor to find out what happened to an upperclassman who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Armand, a 6-year-old boy, is accused of crossing boundaries against his best friend at elementary school. While no one knows what actually happened between the two boys, the incident triggers a series of events, forcing parents and school staff into a captivating battle of redemption where madness, desire and obsession arise.

After being involved in a traumatic incident, 17-year-old Gong-ju is forced to change schools. Uncared for by her parents, her previous teacher arranges for her to hide away at his mother's place. It takes time for her past to catch up with her, but when it does the revelation is devastating.

The mother of a missing child takes in a lost girl she finds in the woods, but soon begins to wonder if she is even human.

Relations between the students and the new teacher of German are extremely tense. When one female student commits suicide, her schoolmates blame the teacher for her death. An awareness that things are not quite so black and white comes too late.

When the cast and crew of a paranormal TV reality program decide to shoot in the house of the original Saeki hauntings, a series of strange events unfold at the location.

Two high school girls who are about to graduate also happen to be highly-skilled assassins. When the organization they work for orders them to share a room, their relationship quickly sours. But when they become targets of the yakuza, the girls realize they'll have to work together to survive.

Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.

July 1998 - After a group of delinquents is found dead in their hangout place with all their limbs twisted and torn off, Aozaki Touko receives a request to find the murderer and asks Shiki for help. The main suspect is Asagami Fujino; a girl who was the boys' plaything until recently, who Shiki believes to be "one of her kind".

A detective starts spiraling out of control when a wave of gruesome murders with seemingly similar bizarre circumstances is sweeping Tokyo.

A lawyer tasked with defending a robbery-and-murder suspect begins developing doubts about what truly happened.

Two sisters find out the existence of their long-lost mother, but the younger cannot accept the fact that she was abandoned as a child.

A female detective investigates the cause of a high school girl’s death and uncovers a disturbing truth.

A man brutally murders a married couple and leaves the word “ikari” (“rage”) written with their blood. The killer undergoes plastic surgery and flees. At three different locations in Japan, a male stranger appears. People suspect that the stranger might be the murderer.

After a teacher dies, his best friend — a former cop — takes a job at the school where he worked to confront the gang he thinks was responsible.

A girl, Yūri Kurahashi, after watching a cursed videotape together with her friend in a haunted house, becomes trapped in a conflict between the two murderous ghosts: Sadako Yamamura and Kayako Saeki

Leah, 10, has terrible nightmares. Her mother seems distant somehow, lost in her thoughts. A small, nightly visitor brings Leah comfort, but soon Leah will realize that her little visitor offers knowledge that might be very, very dangerous.

Ten years have gone by since Elena's six-year old son has disappeared. The last thing she heard of him was a phone call he gave her, saying that he was lost on a beach in France and couldn't find his father. Nowadays, Elena lives on this same beach and manages a restaurant. She is finally beginning to emerge from this tragic episode when she meets a French teenager who strongly reminds her of her lost son. The two of them will embark on a relationship which will sow chaos and distrust around them.

Ayuha Samaru is a high school student. She is honest and works hard at everything, no matter what. One day, she has trouble at a gyudon restaurant due to money. A man at the restaurant, Yoshitaka Hiromitsu, helps her out. The next day, she finds that Yoshitaka Hiromitsu has come to her school as a substitute teacher for her ill homeroom teacher. Ayuha Samaru now believes that Yoshitaka Hiromitsu is her fate in love. She keeps expressing her feelings to him.

A cop investigates whether the man convicted of murdering his daughter is really guilty.

Pierre Hoffman joins a prestigious school as a substitute teacher and soon notices, among some of his students, an unjustified hostility and a spark of violence in their eyes. Is it because the unspeakable tragedy they have just experienced? Is it because they seem to be extraordinarily gifted children? Is it because they have lost all hope for the future? From curiosity to obsession, Pierre will try to unlock their secret.

A psychologist connects her missing brother to the strange case of a mysterious little girl believed to be Sadako reincarnated.

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Takumi and his six-year-old son, Yuji, haven't come to terms with their wife and mother's death. One day, they meet a woman with an uncanny resemblance to her sheltering from the rain near their home.

A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to "The Crucible".

"Innocent face, D-cup breasts and perfect intercourse skills! Son, this is not your girlfriend anymore but your mother!" Ki-ho brings Yuki from Japan to marry her. However, he starts cheating on her with his ex-girlfriend in Korea. Min-cheol comforted Yuki and thought of her as his daughter-in-law, but one day he realizes he is looking at her as a woman. In the end, Yuki and Min-cheol have intercourse without Ki-ho knowing...

After going to extremes to cover up an accident, a corrupt cop's life spirals out of control when he starts receiving threats from a mysterious witness.

Frustrated by the lack of intimacy in her relationship, a young schoolteacher goes through a series of intimidating and often violent sexual partners.

6th Grade gets a new substitute teacher. She wants to train the class for an international competition in Paris. But something isn't right. How is she able read kids' minds? Why is she so mean? And how does she manage to convince everyone's parents she is so great when the whole class knows she is really an alien?

A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to avenge the death of his wife and roams the countryside with his toddler son in search of vengeance.

Koji Shiraishi interviews the survivors of an indiscriminate attack at a sightseeing resort and starts investigating the strange events that have been happening to them.

The ghost of a student who died at a Korean school comes back to seek vengeance and protect her friends.

Sebastiano teaches high school gym classes and coaches swimming. He’s got a job, a girlfriend, and a pretty normal life. But as young Martin starts to infiltrate Sebastiano’s life, his world will get turned upside down. Eerie from the first frame, this Hitchcockian thriller portrays sexual obsession with terrifying realism.
