Sana: Let Me Hear (2024) Arrow Player Review
A group of high school students are taking extra classes during the summer holidays when one of them suddenly jumps off the school roof in a grim reminder of a similar incident that happened at the same school 30 years prior. Substitute teacher Honoka discovers that both events revolve around an elusive girl named Sana, and the chilling secret behind the cassette tape she recorded.
In researching this title online prior to reviewing it looks like SANA: LET ME HEAR is also known as ‘WHO’S THAT GIRL?’ which unfortunately affords it an association with the dubious Golden Raspberry nominated Madonna flick from the late Eighties. Fortunately, it is nowhere near as bad as that film, unfortunately it is not much better either, and arguably the Material Girl’s ‘screwball’ comedy makes for a scarier viewing experience, and it is not even intended as a horror film.
SANA: LET ME HEAR has a lot to live up to, its predecessor delivered the thrills you would expect from Takashi Shimizu, a genre director well-versed in creating top drawer J-Horror entertainment. I was poised for another portion of curse-laden chills but alas the film opted to inflict a curse upon itself instead – it offers up an origin story, or rather it fleshes out the origin story, which admittedly makes a change from the usual sequel route of simply regurgitating what made the first film work but it feels just as lazy all the same.
For my money I do not want to know more backstory. It is the filmic equivalent of having someone explain a joke. For example, years ago, we had YOUNG HANNIBAL which felt the unnecessary need to inform us as to what made Hannibal Lecter the cannibal he came to be. I did not want to know, doing so diffuses and dilutes the horror. I feel that by maintaining an element of mystery or mystique the scary stuff works more, explaining it robs it of its power and thus SANA: LET ME HEAR falls short of matching the original for thrills, spills, and chills.