A premise that has been around the block more times that you can count -- a young teenager missing, a parent with who goes against the grain to get them back "their way". This genre of the "seeking justice" film may harken from "based on true story" material like Ransom, or it can be the product of a superman fantasy, as in Rambo Last Blood, but nowhere will you see it stretched to such extreme lengths of antisocial behavior as in this film. Taking cues from Oldboy, there is brutal bashing of brains, a suicide related to sexual discovery, and questions about fidelity, sanguity, suffering, and a few plot twists. But what it put on display at another level is a study in pathological amorality of the "bottom" in a trafficking ring. And yet, it takes a ridiculously fantastic view of sex rings and gangs that is peculiarly Japanese, and somewhat disconnected from the realities of the abuse of disaffected teenagers, and the generation beat-skip of emasculated young men wagging their tales as they sniff around and prostrate themselves for the "perfect girl" and their old-school wife beating fathers. I do not recommend this film. I am interested to see what was made of similar material in the film "Searching" which seems to have a lot in common but perhaps a bit more of a realistic parental perspective.
Review of The World of Kanako
