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Parents' Guide to

Audition

By S. Jordan Mattos, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Gruesome revenge fantasy isn't for kids.

Movie R 2002 115 minutes
Audition Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 7 parent reviews

DobbyTheFreeElf
DobbyTheFreeElf Parent of 13 and 15-year-old
September 14, 2022
age 18+
This is a great horror movie but definitely not for kids. It’s a slow burn, disturbing throughout, but the film does not become graphically violent until the end. Without spoiling the plot, the movie skewers traditional Japanese patriarchal culture, which values physically attractive but submissive women. A man holds an audition for a fake movie in order to find a new girlfriend and chooses the most beautiful but seemingly shy and compliant woman as “the one.” It does not end well. As a social satire, the film is brilliant; as a horror film, it is bloody good fun; as a film for children, it is exceptionally inappropriate.
CSMContentDefault
CSMContentDefault Adult
November 16, 2020
age 2+

The best japanese movie

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
See all 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Shaken by his wife's death, TV executive Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi) bonds with his young son. Together, they share meals, jokes -- even dating tips. It's one of these harmless teenage suggestions from his son that puts AUDITION's gears in motion. Shigeharu holds a taped live casting call for the most beautiful, educated women of Japan, but he's really searching for a new wife. Enter demure, beautiful Asami Yamazaki (Elhi Shiina), who is everything Shigeharu hoped for. He begins a cat and mouse game to land her affections. After a few dates, she agrees to marry him, but it's not a happy marriage. Angry at the lies he's told her, Asami drugs and brutally tortures Shigeharu, to educate him in the laws of pain. The ghost of a former boss surfaces -- a hideously deformed creature unable to move or speak. She has kept him trapped in a bag, cut off his feet and tongue, and fed him a bowl of her own vomit. The abused abuse others. The cycle continues, until the social order itself it is altered.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7 ):
Kids say (4 ):

As a morality tale on the power dynamic between men and women in society, Audition works. Filmmaker Takashi Miike uses a traditional outlook to shock and trick us. By accepting the rules, we expect Shigeharu to marry the woman of his dreams. But when he marries, the movie self-destructs. In effect, we disregard the fact that she, and countless other women in the film, have been deceived and treated like cattle. We still expect a happy ending -- and for that, we're punished severely.

Teens who have already heard about the film's genre switch may watch for thrills, but only a handful will actually be able to sit through the hideous, sickening torture sequences. Those who go in to the film blindly will not enjoy feeling tricked and penalized. This movie is definitely NOT for kids.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the different social traditions of other cultures, how to cope with abuse and loss, the effects our dreams can have on us, and finding productive ways of dealing with our emotions when we're hurt by others.

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