Audition

1999

1h 55m

Horror

List

83%

Tomatometer

83 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

This disturbing Japanese thriller follows Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), a widower who decides to start dating again. Aided by a film-producer friend (Miyuki Matsuda), Aoyama uses auditions for a fake production to function as a dating service. When Aoyama becomes intrigued by the withdrawn, gorgeous Asami (Eihi Shiina), they begin a relationship. However, he begins to realize that Asami isn't as reserved as she appears to be, leading to gradually increased tension and a harrowing climax.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

An audacious, unsettling Japanese horror film from director Takashi Miike, Audition entertains as both a grisly shocker and a psychological drama.

Read Critics Reviews

Chuck Bowen

Slant Magazine

The film is a brutal examination of social isolation and malaise, and the gulf that often exists between men and women.

Rated: 4/4

Jul 1, 2019

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

A stomach-turning masterpiece.

Rated: 5/5

Dec 10, 2015

Full Review

Jim Sullivan

Boston Globe

This movie, at just under two hours, is a long crawl from inception to climax.

Rated: 2/4

Nov 30, 2001

Full Review

Stephanie Archer

Film Inquiry

Audition is a slow burner of a horror, an almost perfect example of a frog in boiling water.

Nov 2, 2023

Full Review

Carolyn Hinds

JoySauce.com

A film I’ve seen once and I’m not sure I’ll ever see again because it’s so effectively disturbing, which is exactly what you want with a horror film. I’ve never looked at piano wire the same way again.

Nov 9, 2022

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

What begins as a gentle romance based on a lie turns into a disturbed and disturbing psycho-horror nightmare that rockets into the Twilight Zone of obsession, sadism, and mutilation.

Oct 29, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Christian K

Extended stretches of delicate character and world building to set up a psychological and tortuous climax. I will say from the buzz and acclaim of this I was little let down on the horror and thrills side, but its extremely well done.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/07/24

Full Review

Chris F

The first half of the movie is slow and it struggled to keep my attention. The second half is sadistic and often grotesque. While you can appreciate the ideas of the film, it just did not register with me in any way.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/27/24

Full Review

Audience Member

I like movies that allow you to take the literal path or otherwise. And this is one of those movies. It allows the viewer to except the violent ax by the girl as reality. Or a metaphor for how a crazy chick will just sleep with you and get a meal and then leave you Forever. Depends in needles in the stomach to me represents the feeling of being in love with someone that doesn’t love you back. And the torture that ensued. I would like to add half a star 4 1/2 stars for this movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/25/24

Full Review

babarizam D

During whole movie, one can never tell whom to sympathise with. Girl with childhood trauma or others.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/09/24

Full Review

zach s

This movie was hyped up for years as the most messed up thing I would ever see! So when I finally convinced some friends to watch it, we were all horribly let down. This film has a 2hr runtime and 1hr 30mins is spent just on the set up of a romance story between the two leads. While I agree the love story is necessary for the plot, the pacing is incredibly sluggish. The film is also in Japanese, which is not an issue, but the subtitles were always way faster than the dialogue, causing many scenes to be out of sync. Finally, we get to the last moments of the film and they decide to start up the torture horror and it was fine; literally nothing I will ever remember or that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/08/24

Full Review

Jules N

Takashi Miike réussi parfaitement a faire grandir un sentiment de malaise autour du personnage de Asami. Ce film propose aussi une réflexion sur la place de la femme dans la société japonaise. Les relations entre tous les personnages sont toutes intéressantes.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/30/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Takashi Miike

Director

Ryo Ishibashi

Shigeharu Aoyama

Eihi Shiina

Asami Yamazaki

Jun Kunimura

Yasuhisa Yoshikawa

Miyuki Matsuda

Ryoko Aoyama

Ren Ôsugi

Shibata

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

10 WTF Horror Movies to Watch if You Loved M3GAN

RT’s Top Yuletide Comedies — Christmas Countdown, Day One

RT’s Top 20 Halloween Movie Countdown, Part 1

View more photos

Synopsis

This disturbing Japanese thriller follows Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), a widower who decides to start dating again. Aided by a film-producer friend (Miyuki Matsuda), Aoyama uses auditions for a fake production to function as a dating service. When Aoyama becomes intrigued by the withdrawn, gorgeous Asami (Eihi Shiina), they begin a relationship. However, he begins to realize that Asami isn't as reserved as she appears to be, leading to gradually increased tension and a harrowing climax.

Director: Takashi Miike
Producer: Satoshi Fukushima, Akemi Suyama
Screenwriter: Daisuke Tengan, Ryu Murakami
Production Co: Omega Project
Genre: Horror
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 19, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $110.8K
Runtime: 1h 55m

Most Popular at Home Now