‘Sham’ Review: Takashi Miike’s Latest Is A Stylish But Frustrating Courtroom Drama [Fantasia 2025]
Japanese director and all-around genre icon Takashi Miike is known for his epic output that runs the gamut of disturbing horror like Audition and silly yet entertaining video game adaptations like Ace Attorney. He isn’t constrained by genre, which he proves yet again in his film Sham, which had its Canadian premiere at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival. This is Miike’s latest take on the courtroom drama (which he tackles in Ace Attorney), a stylish thriller that builds steadily only to be stunted by a disappointing third act. But even when the story stutters, core performances by Gô Ayano and Kaoru Kobayashi propel the film forward and keep you invested in their emotional journeys.
Sham opens with a media frenzy outside a courtroom as what is essentially an army of lawyers marches into battle to take on a high-profile case. But nothing gets the reporters going more than the arrival of the accused, Seiichi Yabushita (Ayano). He’s an elementary school teacher accused by a parent, Ritsuko Himuro (Kô Shibasaki), of bullying her son, Takuto (Kira Miura), and using corporal punishment against him in the classroom.
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The film unfolds from different perspectives as each character gives their testimony in court. First up is Ritsuko, who tells a horrific story about an abusive teacher taunting her son and even inflicting bodily harm by grabbing his nose and ears. She even says that Yabushita told Takuto to kill himself and bullied him to commit suicide due to their family being half American. She paints a picture of an unusually cruel teacher who made her son’s life a living hell. But, as we shift into Yabushita’s perspective, we get a very different story.
From here, Yabushita is painted in a much more positive light as a man misunderstood and manipulated by an evil woman (if you can’t tell, this isn’t a movie with the most progressive gender politics). The story follows his struggle to defend himself and reveal the truth to clear his name. But it’s not so easy to get justice, even if you are innocent. Thankfully, he finds lawyer Toshio Yugamidani (Kobayashi), who is willing and able to take on a case no other lawyer would.
It’s a film that treads familiar territory, following in the footsteps of films like Burning, The Hunt, and, most obviously, Rashomon, especially in its shifting perspectives before revealing the truth. It’s also pulling from reality, as the script was adapted from the popular 2007 Japanese novel Detchiage Fukuoka Satsujin Kyoshi Jiken no Shinsou, or Fabrication: The Truth About The ‘Murder Teacher’ in Fukuoka by journalist Masumi Fukuda. In the non-fiction book, the journalist exposed the truth behind the allegations of a teacher bullying a student to suicide and the media sensation the allegations created. Hayashi Mori combines reality with the sensational to craft a familiar story about the power of accusations and the horrors of media sensationalism.
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Ayano’s performance as Yabushita is two-faced, monstrous at first, then meek and almost pathetic, practically begging for sympathy. He’s able to embody that duality with ease, casting doubt upon his intentions and building back our trust. While his character verges into melodrama, it helps heighten the emotional stakes as he gets more desperate with each passing day to expose the truth.
Sham is Miike at his most commercial as he creates a tense, mid-grade courtroom drama that unfolds in predictable yet interesting ways. The rushed third act, unfortunately, holds Sham back from being satisfying, as Mori’s script contains one too many loose threads that leave the film feeling incomplete. Ayano’s performance is enthralling, no doubt, and the first two acts are well-paced. That’s why its resolution feels so disappointing. If you’re a Miike completionist, it’s certainly worth a watch. Just don’t expect it to be the director at his most transgressive or confronting.
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Sham
Summary
‘Sham’ is Takashi Miike at his most commercial, a tense, mid-grade courtroom drama that unfolds in predictable yet interesting ways.
Categorized: Reviews
