'JU-ON: Origins': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and everything else about the Netflix horror series
Fans of Takashi Shimizu’s 2000 supernatural horror film ‘Ju-On’ and the film series it has spawned -- a total of 13 films of which nine are Japanese productions, and four are American -- should hold on to their hats. Netflix is about to launch a series called ‘JU-ON: Origins’, and it will explore the Japanese horror story further.
Release date
‘JU-ON: Origins’ will premiere in the U.S. on July 3, only on Netflix.
Plot
Like all the ‘Ju-On’ and ‘The Grudge’ films, this Netflix series too will explore the curse born out of the rage-induced murder of Kayako, her son Toshio, and Toshio's pet cat by her crazed husband Takeo after he learns of Kayako’s obsessive love for another man, Kobayashi.
In all the ‘Ju-On’ and ‘The Grudge’ films, people who come in contact with the house where Kayako and her son were murdered contract the curse. Alternatively, people who have the curse already can in turn transfer it to others, just by mere contact. All those affected by this curse, this rage, fall victim to Kayako’s malevolent spirit and eventually meet death.
Per the official synopsis on Netflix, ‘JU-ON: Origins’ will focus on the true events of which is the inspiring base of the story. Those are the beginnings of the “curse” and will give a raw look at the chain of terror that befalls all of those who come into contact with the house.
Cast
Yoshiyoshi Arakawa
The 46-year-old Japanese actor is best known for his roles in ‘Memories of Matsuko’, ‘Survive Style 5+’, and ‘Fine, Totally Fine’.
Yuina Kuroshima
The 23-year-old Japanese model and actor is not new to the ‘Ju-On franchise. She has played the roles of Yayoi in ‘Ju-on: The Beginning of the End’, and in ‘Ju-on: The Final’. Her other notable roles include the ‘Sakurada Reset’ films, ‘Strayer’s Chronicles’, and more.
Creators
‘JU-ON: Origins’ will be directed by Sho Miyake. The script for the series has been written by Hiroshi Takahashi and Takashige Ichise. Executive producers of ‘JU-ON: Origins’ are Toshinori Yamaguchi from NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan and Kazutaka Sakamoto from Netflix.
Trailer
The short, just over one-minute trailer of ‘JU-ON: Origins’, in Japanese, already paints a visceral picture of what is to come. It begins with the view of the same house fans of the films have come to love and fear. As the narrator tells the story of Kayako and the terrible fate she suffered, we see the residents of the house slowly get affected by the curse in it.
There are tiny glimpses of both Kayako and Toshio, both teasing viewers of what is to come. The power of ‘Ju-On’ films has always been less the actual visual appearance of Kayako and Toshio, rather it is more the slow manifestation of dark thoughts in the minds of those who have been cursed. And this trailer does a very good job of presenting that.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the actual visceral horror bits are not fun. And in that regard, ‘JU-ON: Origins’, in the trailer, promises something extraordinary gruesome: a murderous (and obviously cursed) fetus.
If the trailer is any indication, ‘JU-ON: Origins’ might just prove to be one of the best in the horror genre we’ve seen in 2020.
If you like ‘JU-ON: Origins’, you will also like
‘The Grudge’, ‘Ju-On: The Beginning of the End’, ‘The Ring’, ‘Hereditary’, ‘Pulse’, and ‘Midsommar’.