Why Don't You Play in Hell?

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Why Don't You Play in Hell?

2014,

2h 9m,

Action/

Comedy

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Watchlist

Watchlist

83%

42 Reviews

Tomatometer

80%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

42 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

In Japan, gonzo filmmakers hatch a three-pronged plan to save an actress's career, end a yakuza war and make a hit movie.

Critics Consensus

Deliriously manic and gleefully tasteless, Why Don't You Play in Hell? delivers infectious genre fun.

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Samuel B. Prime

Slant Magazine

Sep 24, 2019

A minor character at one point buoyantly asks, "What's 35mm?" Sono's mission is to create a film that answers this vacant, if innocent, question.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Horror Nonna

Aug 25, 2018

Why Don't You Play in Hell is a frenzy of joy and colour, held together by an unrelenting disinterest in narrative logic.

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Scott Tobias

The Dissolve

Nov 10, 2014

3/5

Alternately exhilarating and tedious, Why Don't You Play In Hell? is Sono's tribute to moviemaking.

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Justine Smith

Vague Visages

Jun 6, 2024

The director, at the expense of his sanity, has completely transcended these needs and wants, attaining a higher power by way of cinema.

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C.J. Prince

Way Too Indie

Jun 27, 2019

7.3/10

Once the two plots merge, it leads to a massive sequence that's hilarious in its gleeful bloodlust and self-awareness.

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Pat Padua

Spectrum Culture

Aug 28, 2018

2/5

As much as the film overflows with blood, the movie's other major problem is that it overflows with contrived plot and incident.

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Rey R

Jan 14, 2019

I'm a fan of every Sion Sono film I've seen except for this one. Found it to be pretty stupid which puts me in the minority group who didn't get the humour. It was funny in the start but then just got irritating after a while.

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Ron W

Aug 17, 2017

There is so much going on you won't be bored. If you like movies you will enjoy the references to a bygone era of Bruce Lee movies, 70's action, yakuza movies, etc. it is a dark comedy/yakuza movie/fantasy/action/love story/arthouse piece and that is far as I am going to go to classify it. Enjoy!

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Kylo L

Jun 21, 2017

Its Bofinger with a little more style and a lot more blood. Its absurd fun and I had a great time watching it. If you like funny violent movies you will love this movie. however, much like Bofinger, its a film you only need to see once. This film is very funny, and cartoonish. I think it would be an easy movie to market and sell to hipster americans, but hipsters are also often millennials and tend refuse to watch anything with subtitles. So many great films like this coming out of Japan in the last 20 years and all we get here is more Marvel movies.

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Luke S

Apr 3, 2017

That was... interesting...

Leia M

Nov 25, 2016

I think Sion Sono has a mild "M Night Shyamalan complex". Most of the movie comes across as bland, but then he kicks you in the ass with a masterful scene. This happens just enough to make it one of my favorites.

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Rey M

Sep 10, 2013

Sion Sono writes and directs this movie with aplomb, an over the top yakuza filmmaking satire action comedy that is strange and unique. Not to say it isn't good, but it lack internal consistency, not being a realistic action film but at least being weird enough to be engaging. There were some parts that were just too out there to accept, but overall this isn't a movie you watch for the action, its a movie you watch because its weird.

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Sion Sono

Director

Jun Kunimura

Muto

Shinichi Tsutsumi

Jun Ikegama

Hiroki Hasegawa

Don Hirata

Gen Hoshino

Koji Hashimoto

Fumi Nikaidô

Mitsuko

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Synopsis

In Japan, gonzo filmmakers hatch a three-pronged plan to save an actress's career, end a yakuza war and make a hit movie.

Director: Sion Sono
Producer: Takeshi Suzuki, Takuyuki Matsuno
Screenwriter: Sion Sono
Distributor: Drafthouse Films
Production Co: King Records
Genre: Action, Comedy
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 7, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $28.5K
Runtime: 2h 9m

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