The
world did Ashihara wrong, so he will make the world pay. He is not too
particularly about whom. Anyone handy will do. When the entitled rage of the
Occupy movement is combined with the voyeurism of social media-saturated, bad
things are sure to happen in Tetsuya Mariko’s Destruction Babies (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 New York Asian Film Festival.
Eighteen-year-old
Taira Ashihara and his twelvish-year-old brother Shota drew a sad lot in life.
After their mother abandoned them and their father died at an early age, the
Brothers Ashihara have lived above the garage where Taira used to work. The owner,
Kazuo Kondo, fancies himself their benefactor, but he is really just another
exploiter. Finally, the elder brother snaps and lights off on a brawling bender,
attacking nearly everyone he comes across.
Taira
will take innumerable beatings, but he always dusts himself off and joins the
battle again. Two of his favorite foes are the yakuza running a downtown
hostess club and group of loutish high school students. Unlike his mates, Yuya
Kitahara is initially careful to avoid direct fighting, but when he sees what
an internet sensation Kaira has become, he decides to switch sides and
facilitate his rampage. Something about Taira’s recklessness appeals to
sociopathic misogyny. This is especially true when they kidnap Nana, a hostess
at the yakuza club.
The
first half of the film is weirdly effective portraying Taira’s impotent rage.
He definitely has grievances, he just can’t explain them, per se. Essentially,
it is a lot like watching Michael Douglas’s Dfens character from Falling Down, on a nasty meth jag.
Sadly, the second half down-shifts into a sadistic abduction thriller, executed
in such neutral terms, any possible takeaway remains elusive.
Still,
it is not for a lack of trying on Nana Komatsu’s part. She makes her namesake’s
big shocking moment almost believable. Likewise, Masaki Suda is profoundly disturbing
as Kitahara, an utterly rotten kid, thoroughly desensitized by social media. In
contrast, Yûya Yaguira is cold, cruel, and clammy as Taira.