Desperate for leads in a kidnapping case, police seek the assistance of a psychic housewife in finding a missing girl. At first the medium is no help, but through a twist of fate she and her husband become intimately involved in the case. Instead of alerting the cops right away, she decides to use her secret knowledge of the child’s disappearance to further her own career. It’s no surprise when her selfish priorities yield tragic results. Seance is played out in a subtle, pseudo-realistic manner, unlike a lot of recent Japanese horror films. It’s intended to reflect the main couple’s banal existence in a conformist society, but I had a difficult time connecting with the understated story. Within half an hour, anyone who’s read Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart will predict how the haunted couple fares. There are a few suspenseful scenes, and at least one twist on a familiar J-horror cliche, but overall it’s a heavy-handed morality tale with an obvious conclusion.

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