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Death Note
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Death Note
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- 2017
- Adam Wingard
- 101 mins
- 18
Summary
Light Turner finds a supernatural notebook and uses it to mete out death, attracting the attention of a detective, a demon and a girl in his class.
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Review
A star rating of 3 out of 5.
Jamie Healy
Horror specialist Adam Wingard's slick supernatural thriller sees a book with death-dealing powers come into the possession of high-school student Light Turner (Nat Wolff). He learns from the book's demonic guardian (voiced with malevolent glee by Willem Dafoe) that by simply scribbling the name of the intended victim in its pages, their demise is assured. But after Turner has taken care of those with whom he has a genuine grievance, matters spiral out of control as he and his new girlfriend (Margaret Qualley) embark on a murder spree. Fans of the original, much-adapted Japanese manga may find the plot of this Seattle-set translation a little too potted, but Wingard wastes no time in getting on with both the story and the splatter. He also doesn't get bogged down in the morality of his young protagonists: they kill without compunction, but their increasingly out-of-control romance ultimately puts their lives in jeopardy. With its synthy score, neon lighting and love of a gratuitous power ballad, Death Note is very much in thrall to such 1980s pyjama-party favourites as The Lost Boys, Christine and Heathers. And like those films, it strikes the right balance between the grim, the grisly and the fun.
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4.5/10
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Credits
Cast
rolenameLight TurnerNat WolffLLaKeith StanfieldMia SuttonMargaret QualleyRyukWillem DafoeJames TurnerShea WhighamWatariPaul NakauchiRyukJason LilesDetective SasakiMasi Oka
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Crew
rolenameDirectorAdam Wingard
Details
Released on
2017-08-25
Languages
English | Japanese | Spanish
Guidance
Violence
Formats
Colour
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