What could be worse than matching with a stalker verses a serial killer?
Matched (マッチング), directed by Eiji Uchida follows wedding planner Rinka Tadashima (Tao Tsuchiya) and her non-existent love life. While other 29-year-olds are navigating the ups and downs of dating, Rinka is spending her nights with her father, Yoshiki Tadashima (Tetta Sugimoto).
Tired of her single status, Rinka joins online dating app ‘Will Will’, known for its impressive success rates amongst singles who has matched on the app. However, despite its promise to match Rinka, her experience is far from successful. With her shy and slightly cynical demure, Rinka is hopeless on ‘Will Will’ as she is unable to connect with her potential matches outside her blunt responses. Enter her colleague and close friend Naomi (Moemi Katayama) who plays cupid and helps Rinka secure a date with her highly anticipated 97% match, Tomu (Daisuke Sakuma).
With looks being deceiving, but that’s the game we accept once we’re online, Rinka finds herself not anticipating her first meeting with Tomu. As Tomu narrates, he is “born under an unlucky star”. Tomu is one to leave an impression with his darker than life personality. His mysterious aura, which matches his appearance and not his dating profile, leaves Rinka feeling increasingly out of place as their date unfolds. Thinking the match is not suitable, she would have thought it was over. How wrong she was.
In the wake of a string of unsettling double murders, Rinka’s wedding planning company collaborates with the dating app ‘Will Will’. Rinka is then introduced to its developer Tsuyoshi (Nobuaki Kaneko). It is no coincident when all these murders are Rinka’s newlywed clients, throwing her into a whirlwind of anxiety and a prime suspect in these murders.
After her disastrous first blind date with Tomu, Rinka distances herself from any further romantic engagements with him. Ignoring Tomu’s persistent messages she seeks help from Tsuyoshi which drives the film into a whirlwind of conspiracies leaving the audience thinking, predicting and baffled. As the mystery surrounding these murders unfold, Rinka must confront the secrets of her family, as the line between love and danger becomes increasingly blurred.
Matched stays true to its theme of a horror thriller where audiences can anticipate gruesomely graphic murders. The looming sound design amplifies the tension, creating an experience that pulls viewers into a dark and unpredictable journey. Much like a black hole, the plot’s twists and turns make it nearly impossible to foresee the outcome, leaving us on the edge of our seats. With its blend of suspense and psychological depth, Matched explores the thin line between love and danger, making Matched captivating and unsettling. Unless you’re a vivid attendee at the Japanese Film Festival, newcomers will find themselves pleasantly surprised by this film.
Without spoiling too much, Matched explores the depth of dangers that one could face when we are digitally vulnerable in today’s age of online dating. It showcases how easily our lives can be exposed and the unsettling consequences that can arise when we are gullible enough to trust in seemingly harmless personalities.
Matched highlights the precarious balance between seeking love and the lurking threats that can accompany our online interactions, making it more relatable in a sense that this could be you. You may never know which end of these personalities you could be – the gullible victim, the stalker, or the serial killer?
Follow Rinka as she navigates the thrilling adventure of stranger danger while she seeks to find love online. Matched is currently screening as part of the 2024 Japanese Film Festival, now showing at Kino Cinemas in Melbourne until November 3rd.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://japanesefilmfestival.net/film/matched