Fantasia Review: ‘Wonderful Paradise’ is Carnival Ride into the Nonsensical

If you asked me to describe the film Wonderful Paradise, I would only be able to say it’s like a fever dream after an all-night bender on three days of not sleeping. Even then I wouldn’t be doing it justice. The film made its North American premiere at Fantasia’s 25th International Film Festival this past week. Director Masashi Yamamoto starts with a quirky absurdist comedy about a family divided. Then finishes with something, that once concluded, I wanted to watch all over again just to convince myself what I had just seen actually happened. 

After a series of bad investments and mounting gambling debts, Shuji Sasaya (Seiko Ito) must sell his estate to cover his losses and the family must leave. His son Yuka (Soran Tamoto) appears to be drifting through life without direction while being pushed around by everyone. His daughter Akane (Mayu Ozawa) is angry with her dad for his poor choices. After her father tells her to go “make fun memories”, a decision he’ll soon regret, she decides to post to Twitter that there will be a big party tonight at the house. She then takes a nap, unaware that her little joke is suddenly being liked and shared at an alarming pace. 

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The first guest to arrive is their estranged mother Akiko (Kaho Minami) who left the family for a coffee shop owner but claims that’s now over with. The movers arrive next and get working on packing up their belongings. When a homeless man wanders onto the property and begins worshiping at the foot of a Greek statue in their driveway, he thinks is Buddha, there is a scuffle, and he appears to die.

It’s in this scene we get a brief glance at the oddities we’re in store for as the situations unravel. Storming in like a bull in a China shop is Aunt Yuka (Sonomi Hoshino), Shuji’s sister. She is blunt and not afraid to tell anyone who will listen what is wrong with them. She’s also the funniest in a menagerie of characters. Her sound effects alone will have you rolling.

One by one more and more guests begin to arrive. A young couple looking to be married on the property. A cyclist doing a tour of Japan. A mother and son sightseeing in the country. Some kids looking to take a shower.

Friends of the family and many others. As more guests arrive the gathering goes from a small get together into a full-blown festival, full of beer tents, food stands, a DJ Booth and games for the children. As the party continues into the night, Wonderful Paradise goes from the silly to the absurd. Yet as bizarre as it gets, you’re glued to the screen. Maybe just out of curiosity on how far this will go or fear you might miss something. 

Oddly enough, even as the insanity ramps up to animated orgasms knocking a girl out (yes that happens too), no one seems to react. It’s unique to have this level of chaos in one place and not have a single character state, “wait just a moment” or “What is this?”. I think that helps as a viewer just trust the filmmakers and go along for the ride. If they’re not concerned, why should we be?

The second half of Wonderful Paradise goes so far beyond what I would consider a cohesive narrative. There are some really stand out set pieces however: Coffee bar opens in the family kitchen, ghostly grandparents get down on the dance floor, an ice pick wedding (oh boy), a talking cat and a little boy who turns into stick, and because why not, a coffee bean Kaiju with a taste for human blood. There is so much to take in visually that it’s overwhelming at times to understand what exactly is happening, but are we meant to at that point?

There are so many subplots and characters that even though everything for the most part wraps up in the conclusion, you don’t really get to spend the time you might want with the more interesting stories. There really doesn’t seem to be any epiphany or change to the Sasaya family either when the day breaks and all the party guests have gone. Aside from throwing a legendary party, which no one ever mentions again.

While self-aware and daring, Wonderful Paradise isn’t just weird for weirds sake. One could dissect this work and see that although fantastic in nature, most of the scenes have a deeper meaning, if you looked closer. It might break you mentally looking that closely, but I would love to read that essay. Sometimes life is just an escalation of crazy surrounding you, but you hold onto what matters and hopefully you learn a little something along the way. Or sometimes you hold an impromptu funeral in your backyard and a Bollywood dance number and a circus breaks out. 4/5

★★★★

You can check out the trailer for Wonderful Paradise directed by Masahi Yamamoto below. The film is now streaming as part of Fantasia Festival from August 5-25. Be sure to follow ScaryNerd for more of all things horror, sci-fi and more.

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