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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
If you like movies that smell like cheap cigarettes and rainy pavement, watch it. If you need a movie to keep you awake with explosions every five minutes, please, just go watch something else. Professional Killer isn't trying to impress you.
It’s a strange little experience. It feels like watching a dream that you can’t quite remember, but you know you liked the vibe of it.
There is this one shot where someone is just standing by a window. Nothing happens. For a solid minute. I found myself staring at the dust motes dancing in the light instead of the actor’s face. That’s either a failure of the movie or exactly what it wanted. I’m leaning towards the latter.
Minoru Takase has this way of looking at a room like he’s already bored with everyone in it. It’s a great trick. He doesn’t have to do much, yet the camera can't seem to look away.
It’s not as manic as College, obviously. It doesn't have that frantic energy. It feels more like the weight of a rainy Tuesday. Sometimes it reminds me of the stillness in L'équipage, but way more cynical.
There’s a part in the second act where the pacing just completely falls off a cliff. The characters stop moving. The plot stops moving. It’s weirdly hypnotic.
Most critics would call this 'stiff.' I call it 'deliberate.' Or maybe the director just got distracted. Who knows? 🤷♂️
The sound mixing is a bit uneven, too. Sometimes the dialogue is right in your ear, and other times it’s muffled like they’re talking through a blanket. It adds this gritty, handmade feeling that I actually really enjoyed. It doesn't feel like a studio product.
I left the screen feeling like I needed to wash my face and find a black coffee. It isn't a masterpiece, but it’s a piece of work. Sometimes that’s enough.