Late Bloomer

You’d have every reason to view underground filmmaker Gô Shibata’s tale of a severely handicapped man (Sumida) whose unrequited crush on a caregiver (Torii) spills into psychosis as pure exploitation. If anything, this grungy horror film’s refusal to whitewash its antihero offers a rebuke worthy of the Farrelly brothers; by allowing him to indulge in the worst behavior imaginable, the movie actually affirms his humanity. Of course, such highfalutin talk doesn’t mean Shibata’s Tetsuo-style touches (bring the noise!) are any less visceral, or its extreme moments any less disturbing.