A Medium Confronts a Time-Bending Conundrum
Sneak Preview Screening: "Never After Dark" followed by a Q&A with
director Dave Boyle and producer/star Kento Kaku
Thursday, May 14 at 6:00 pm
In Japanese with English subtitles
Japan, 2026 104 minutes
Written and directed by: Dave Boyle
Produced by: Dave Boyle, Kento Kaku, Kosuke Tsutsumi
Starring: Moeka Hoshi, Kurumi Inagaki, Kento Kaku,
Mutsuo Yoshioka, Bokuzo Masana, Tae Kimura
Film courtesy of Signal 181/Toho Next
Following their collaboration on the global Netflix hit "House of Ninjas," American writer-director Dave Boyle and Japanese actor-producer Kento Kaku reunite for - what else? - an elegant, supernatural chiller that scooped up the Midnighter Audience Award when it premiered at SXSW earlier this year. Elevating what could have been just a conventional tale of a haunted-house exorcism into something that is both terrifying and droll, the duo has emphatically planted its new genre label, Signal 181, into the commercial cinema soil.
Set largely on a single rural property, "Never After Dark" blends ghost story conventions with elements of home-invasion suspense. "Shogun" breakout Moeka Hoshi stars as Airi, a medium who specializes in guiding restless spirits out of the world of the living - but only during the daytime, when she has the upper hand. She doesn’t scare easily, and we soon discover that her constant companion and assistant, Miku (Inagaki), is actually on the other side of the "veil" separating our world from the next. But when summoned to a secluded country estate to confront a powerful apparition, the clairvoyant finds herself facing phenomena outside her realm of experience.
She has been hired by Teiko (Kimura), the excitable new owner of the property, a former hotel. Teiko is more impressed with Airi than is her protective son, Gunji (Kaku), who admits that his mom is "not well." As Airi learns more about the building’s history, buried secrets erupt to the surface - and the paranormal goings-on begin to shake her easy equilibrium. Miku warns her away, but it's already too late. "For the first time," the production notes intone, "Airi's greatest adversary is not the supernatural, but the living."
Please join us for this sneak preview of the exquisitely crafted, cleverly plotted "Never After Dark" before the film's release in Japan on June 5.
For more (in Japanese): https://neverafterdark.toho-movie.jp/
DAVE BOYLE is a writer, director and producer who works in both English and Japanese-language film and television. He has directed such films as "Big Dreams Little Tokyo" (2006), "White on Rice" (2009), "Surrogate Valentine" (2011), "Daylight Savings" (2012) and "Man from Reno" (2014), which was nominated for the John Cassavetes award at the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards. He served as the showrunner and lead director for the Netflix original series "House of Ninjas" (2024), co-developed with Kento Kaku, which was an immediate hit, climbing to #1 on Netflix's Global Top Ten.
Producer-actor KENTO KAKU made his film debut in 2007 with "Shindo," and has since worked with many of Japan’s top directors on both the large and small screens, as well as appearing in Japanese stage productions and becoming one of the country's top pitchmen for commercials. He cemented his star status with the lead role in the TV adaptation of the beloved manga "From Today, It’s My Turn" (2028), as well as toplining the blockbuster movie adaptation in 2020. Kaku continues to expand his lengthy resume as an actor, but recently turned his aspirations toward producing, with his passion project "House of Ninjas" (2024), directed by Dave Boyle, as his debut. "Never After Dark" marks their second collaboration.
Please make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk 03 3211-3161 or register online.
All film screenings are private, noncommercial events primarily for FCCJ members and their guests.
- Karen Severns, Film Committee