SAKURAN Dark Horizons

As apprentice courtesan Kiyoha in this racy, mango-inspired film, Japanese pop superstar Anna Tsuchiya turns in a knowing, nuanced performance that suggests she recognizes the numerous similarities between her own day job and her character’s profession.

Both exist in celebrity-driven worlds where youth and beauty trump experience. One hopes that is where the analogy ends, however because Kiyoha proves to be brutally ruthless in her pursuit of success and the title of orian, the premier girl of her brothel. Eschewing historical realism, first time director Mika Ninagawa gives us a gonzo vision of feudal Edo, one stuffed with vibrant colors and draped in the trappings of modern Japan. Independent women, outrageously stylized fashions and a delightfully anachronistic, jazzy score combine to create a wholly unique world that is by turns overwhelmingly sensual and utterly unforgiving.

A bastard child of Cinderella meets SHOWGIRLS, this dizzying, sexy romp is too weird to exist anywhere other than on the screen and too wild to miss.