Full disclosure: I don't even completely understand Kairo. I don't understand most J-horror films, I feel like they're sort of ambiguous. Even so, I love this movie. I hated The Grudge and The Ring and had almost written off Japanese ghost films, but then I watched this, and even though I was left confused by some of the plot, I still felt it. I'll explain that in a moment.
Kairo is about, from what little I understand, people being spirited away. Ghosts begin slipping into our world through the internet. Now, keep in mind, this movie was made in 2001 and the internet wasn't what it is today. I don't know how it was for everyone else, but when I was younger and I spent a lot of time online, I was really judged for it. Now, people never disconnect from the internet, people are always on their phones looking at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat...It was a different time in 2001 and I think this movie really shows that. It's not about the internet as we know it today.
The feeling this movie conveys so well is loneliness. I may not understand anything else that happens in this film, but it really got the point across that the characters in this movie are so lonely and feel so forgotten, that their entire existence just fades away. It's a really unique ghost story. It isn't frightening, but it's deeply unsettling and it does a great job of making you feel the despair the characters feel.
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