General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Rage (2016 film)

Rage (怒り, Ikari) is a 2016 Japanese drama and murder mystery directed by Lee Sang-il, adapted from the mystery novel by Akutagawa Prize-winning author Yoshida Shuichi. The film follows a killer who murders a married couple, writes the word "rage" in their blood, alters his face with plastic surgery, and disappears; a year later, three strangers with hidden pasts surface in three different parts of Japan, and the people who befriend them begin to suspect each newcomer could be the fugitive.¹

Key fact	Detail
Original title	怒り (Ikari), Japanese with English title Rage¹
Director and screenplay	Lee Sang-il, adapting Yoshida Shuichi's novel; Lee had earlier filmed another Yoshida work, Villain¹
Release	September 17, 2016 in Japan, distributed by TOHO; premiered September 10, 2016 at the Toronto International Film Festival¹^•²
Runtime	142 minutes (San Sebastián listed 144 minutes)¹^•³
Principal cast	Ken Watanabe, Mirai Moriyama, Kenichi Matsuyama, Go Ayano, Suzu Hirose, Aoi Miyazaki, Satoshi Tsumabuki⁴
Key crew	Music Ryuichi Sakamoto; cinematography Norimichi Kasamatsu; editing Tsuyoshi Imai¹
Box office	$13,521,593 gross worldwide⁵

Spoilers

Premise

The story opens with a brutal homicide: a married couple is killed in their home, and the killer leaves the word "rage" spelled out in the victims' blood on the wall. The murderer undergoes plastic surgery and remains at large while a nationwide manhunt continues.¹^•⁶

One year later, three men without a past appear in three separate settings, and the people around each of them begin to wonder whether he might be the fugitive:¹

In a fishing harbor in Chiba, Tashiro (Kenichi Matsuyama), a dockworker, draws the suspicion of a father who doubts the intentions of his daughter's new boyfriend.¹^•⁶
In central Tokyo, Naoto (Go Ayano), a gay man surviving by prostitution, is taken in by Yuma (Satoshi Tsumabuki), a businessman who met him by chance in a sauna and then grows suspicious of his quiet, handsome guest.¹^•⁶
On a deserted island in Okinawa, Tanaka (Mirai Moriyama), a backpacker living off the grid, intrigues Izumi (Suzu Hirose), a high school girl from Tokyo.¹^•⁶

The film presents these three men as candidates for the murderer and uses the spreading suspicion to examine trust in intimate relationships. The San Sebastián synopsis describes the case as eroding people's ability to trust others, with rage as the emotion apt to turn violent and expose the mystery behind the murder.³ Netflix's description frames it the same way: months after the unsolved double murder, three drifters resembling the suspect surface in different locations across Japan.⁷

Production

Lee Sang-il wrote the screenplay and directed, working from Yoshida Shuichi's novel; Yoshida received the Akutagawa Prize, Japan's major literary award for emerging writers, and Lee had previously adapted another Yoshida novel as the film Villain.¹ The film was produced by "RAGE" Film Partners with production studio Dragon Fly, and Toho handled Japanese distribution.¹ IMDb lists production companies including Dentsu, Chunichi Shimbun, and Chûôkôron Shinsha.⁵

The score was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, the cinematography was by Norimichi Kasamatsu, and the editing by Tsuyoshi Imai.¹ The film runs 142 minutes in color, on DCP.¹

Cast

Ken Watanabe plays Yohei Maki, the Chiba father; Aoi Miyazaki plays his daughter Aiko.⁴ The three suspects are played by Kenichi Matsuyama (Tetsuya Tashiro), Go Ayano (Naoto Onishi), and Mirai Moriyama (Shingo Tanaka).⁴ Satoshi Tsumabuki plays Yuma Fujita, the Tokyo businessman, and Suzu Hirose plays Izumi Komiya.⁴ The supporting cast includes Pierre Taki as Kunihisa Nanjo, Takahiro Miura as Sosuke Kitami, Hideko Hara as Takako Fujita, Chizuru Ikewaki as Asuka, Mitsuki Takahata as Kaoru, and Takara Sakumoto as Tatsuya Chinen.⁸

Release and reception

Rage premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016, in the Special Presentations section, opened in Japan on September 17, screened in Competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival on September 23, and played in Gala Presentation at the Busan International Film Festival; it also screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 30, 2016.²^•¹ Its New York premiere came at the New York Asian Film Festival in 2017, and a United States release followed on September 9, 2017.⁶^•⁹

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 86% Tomatometer score from four reviews.¹⁰ Dennis Harvey of Variety called it "an astute mixture of multi-strand drama and murder mystery that engrosses for two solid hours," while Wendy Ide of Screen International criticized tonal and pacing issues in the conclusion.¹⁰ Edmund Lee of the South China Morning Post gave it 3.5 out of 5, describing "a slow-burning drama on the paranoia and distrust inherent in human relationships."¹⁰ On IMDb the film rates 7.0 out of 10 from about 3,700 users.⁵ The film earned 4 wins and 21 nominations, according to IMDbPro.⁹

Other 2016 films titled Rage

The Japanese feature shares its English title with several other 2016 films. A Belgian documentary directed by Guy-Marc Hinant and Dominique Lohlé, produced with a minority Flanders share and supported by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, is about acid techno, rave culture, and noise music; it runs 140 minutes and screened at CPH:DOX and Filmer à tout prix in 2017.¹¹^•¹² A Polish feature, Wściekłość (Rage), directed by Michał Węgrzyn and written with Marcin Roykiewicz, is an 83-minute psychological thriller about a young journalist whose life collapses after a promotion; it won Best Film at the Lisbon International Film Festival in 2016 and an Outstanding Achievement Award at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival in 2017.¹³ A 17-minute English-language action short directed by Jonathan Cocco, about a retired assassin avenging his wife's murder, also carries the 2016 date.¹⁴

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Crime drama and neo-noir films

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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