Helter Skelter

2012 ‘ヘルタースケルター’ Directed by Mika Ninagawa

Through round after round of extensive plastic surgery and vigorous maintenance, Ririko has become the absolute manifestation of beauty, and becomes a wildly successful model, actress, and singer. However, soon, her body, unable to withstand the burdens of surgery, begins to crumble, and along with it so does her mind, as she plummets towards a frightening and inevitable end.

Erika Sawajiri Kiko Mizuhara Anne Suzuki Yosuke Kubozuka Shinobu Terajima Go Ayano Hirofumi Arai Kaori Momoi Nao Ōmori Show Aikawa

Alternative Titles

惡女羅曼死, Herutâ sukerutâ, Хелтер-скелтер, 헬터 스켈터, 整容天后

drama horror

127 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Chris 🦑 ★★★★½ 3

"We'll be forgotten. We're machines for the processing of desires"
another reminder that the american film industry constantly tries to emulate asian and especially japanese cinema while almost always falling short - the neon demon really tried it but it could never
Erika Sawajiri is perfect AND this was written and directed by women??? iconic to say the least
Review by Vilu ★★★★

What is that thing you kids say nowadays? "Shove those aesthetics up my ass?" Yeah.
Review by Warp ★★★★½ 4

‘’Youth is beauty. Beauty is not youth."
A Japanese gem filled with colorful aesthetics and narcissism. The colors, the settings, the lighting, the contrasts, the banging soundtrack, the make up, all the details, its absolutely stunning. One of the most beautiful and extravagant movies I’ve ever seen.
A rise and fall story of a artist set in the fashion and pop culture of Japan. Maybe not the most original plot but the amazing acting by Erika Sawajiri as the unsympathetic, insecure and hysterical Lilico and the psychological drama around her do spice this plot up. When the hallucinations start it slowly turns into a psychological horror and it gives that extra surrealistic kick to it.
A little point of critique;…
Review by Rafael Jovine ★★★½ 2

ENCOURAGED BY Warp
Directro Mika Ninagawa channels prime Nobuhiko Obayashi (House), Sion Sono (Love Exposure) and even Kubrick on her own version of Neon Demon as she goes into the much disturbing realms of the fashion world as we follow an obsessed woman whose days of glory are coming to an end but she will go to the extremes for that never happen.
Erika Sawajiri as the lead was mostly effective. She really sold the story arc even though at first might seem impossible as she begins at the bottom so there seems no place to go, but the script and her manage to actually pull it off. The rest of the characters also do a great job and embrace…
Review by persia 🍒 ★★★★½

i want to inject this movie into my veins it was just so good! everything from the production design to the performances to the aesthetics....GORGEOUS. this was truly made for the girls.
Review by Gally☆Gabrielle ★★★★½ 3

My 日本 Canon
Mirror, mirror on the wall... Who is the fairest of them all?
★★★★★★★★★☆
Black Swan and The Neon Demon had a baby and it is beautiful.
Helter Skelter is a psychedelic twisted ride in the world of japanese fashion. It follows Lilico, a superstar model who is the embodiment of perfection that every japanese woman yearns to be (as it's presented here), and the way she deals with the world's demands as she gradually falls apart, both mentally and physically.
There's no other possible way to start this off: Erika Sawajiri is the shit. She is the most perfect cast for Lilico, who's one of the most iconic characters I've ever seen in japanese cinema. Lilico's one…
Review by holli ★★★★½

"we'll be forgotten. we're just machines for processing desire."
still can't believe how criminally undersen this film is when it's one of the most perfectly horrifying depictions of beauty standards and celebrity culture in modern cinema; and not to mention being one of the most aesthetically pleasing films ever made. i feel like i was able to get a lot more out of this the second watch, and i will continue to champion this film until all of film twitter/letterboxd gives it the attention it deserves.
Review by andperidot ★★★★½

"celebrity dystopia" is a wonderful genre and i won't hear a word against it
Review by Mario Melendez ★★★½

Based on the manga created in 2003 by Kyoko Okazaki which I haven't read but always wanted to for the reason that I have a fixation (even if you think I'm crazy) for that kind of story where the protagonist gets to see/witness the insane side of fame. Helter Skelter very easily accommodates the standards of All About Eve, The Valley of the Dolls, Showgirls, Perfect Blue, Black Swan, or The Neon Demon. Showing the superficial world of fame to make us all realize that not all that glitters is pure gold in this case raising the question: does perfection exist?
In it, Liliko, a beautiful girl, has become a pop star, someone with zero talent but charisma, by the…
Review by davidehrlich ★★½

floridly unoriginal look at the horrors of fame culture and the power dynamics of beauty, most interesting when it focuses less on how looks fade than how they control. the poster accurately reflects how the film borrows from Seijun Suzuki to feel like something of a live-action PERFECT BLUE, but its anger never goes deeper than the surface.
Review by Daisoujou ★★★½ 4

It Is Happening Again: Hooptober 6 (Haunting: 34)
Women Directed Films: 4/2
Right near the end, The Love Witch has been dethroned as the most gorgeous looking film of Hooptober. Helter Skelter is loaded with bright vivid color, unique costumes, and beautiful people. It has to be, as a film about beauty, touching on the impossible demands put on women and the mental strain caused by only being appreciated for your fragile looks. Erika Sawajiri plays a famous model who has undergone dangerous illegal plastic surgery, at the height of her popularity but never truly happy, and on the verge of seeing it all collapse when she can't keep the side effects of the surgery at bay. It's not the…
Review by bip jd ★★★★★ 1

my mother said it was like The Neon Demon but not a waste of time

Recent reviews

Review by Avinaba Chakraborty ★★★★ 1

A chaotic Odyssey wrecking havoc through the filthy underbelly of showbiz, Helter Skelter thematically merges Perfect Blue's bewitching portrayal of an actress' rise and fall with the mutinous spirit of a Sion Sono film. Keeping it's focus fixed on a subject which has inspired filmmakers for ages, Ninagawa's grotesque drama on disintegration and identity crisis appears fresh, original and unnerves you at every now and then, it is an aesthetically pleasing mayhem in short, channeling down the frustration and exasperation of a filmmaker remonstrating against a rotten system.
Chronicling the inner turmoil of Lilico, a model and actress turned into an overnight sensation from nowhere Ninagawa spends a great deal of effort in the costumes, set design and cinematography; dyeing…
Review by yan ★½

this is porno
Review by gata_coqueta ★★★★½

I watched this for the first time recently and the fucking cinematography is gorgeous. The directors background in photography really shines through. I was constantly on edge wondering what would happen next.
Review by aliafishy ★★★½

*gay panic intensifies*
Las otras pelo crocante (the neon demon) PODRÁN???
Review by Kitty ★★★★★

Fiquei fascinada quando vi esse filme
Review by ella chin ★★★★

she’s everything so whack i love her
Review by Angelina ★★★★½ 2

Silence.....Breathe.....silence
✨This is probably the prettiest movie✨
I just simply love movies that depict people obsessed with perfection.
I'm not sure why this is classified as horror but whatever the reason, I need more.
Review by freewillsmith ★★★★½

Proper Nutrition, 2021 • 79/92
It feels like Japanese cinema has only gotten wilder, more absurd and more fucked up over time but what’s pretty remarkable is that the heart never wavers. Even in its weirdest offerings there’s a soul that your “normal” movies could never. And then there’s style. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on this watchlist run is that Asian cinema is the GOAT when it comes to style. Like no one even comes close.
That said, I think this is a very important movie.
Review by Maz ★½

dnf....bad vibes, fake deep, doesn't seem to have much new or interesting to say. some cool aesthetic gestures but VERY 2012 and more than a little tumblr-esque. TBF as a transsexual im j not gonna be that in to stories about how plastic surgery leads to degradation lol
Review by ‮חוה‬

dnf, felt transphobic lol... let the girls get their ffs i mean damn
v Tumblr 2012 aesthetic
also why does this exist when one can simply watch Blackeyes, Showgirls, and The Skin I Live In?
Review by xastle ★★

蜷川实花真的不适合拍电影…摄影师只让她对色彩敏感配乐以为一首欢乐颂就可以高潮了以为是EVA呢… 能看屁股老师脱也不吃亏不过应该请ab来拍的还有水原希子也敢接这片呢？
Review by kyotofilms ★★★★

cried :))