Sadako (film)

Believing her daughter to be Sadako reincarnated, psychic Hatsuko Sofue prepares to set fire to the padlocked closet where the little girl is confined. Sadako’s ghost breaks free from a rock pile concealing a cave on Oshima Island to appear inside Hatsuko’s apartment. The little girl supernaturally escapes the closet to join Sadako. Hatsuko collapses in fright as her corner of the Numata Apartment Complex erupts in flames.

At Kurokawa Memorial General Hospital, clinical psychologist Dr. Mayu Akikawa examines emotionally unstable patient Ms. Kurahashi. Mayu’s supervisor Dr. Fujii cautions Mayu against getting too friendly with unpredictable patients like Kurahashi. Wandering the streets alone, Hatsuko’s daughter collapses after encountering the ghost of a woman who jumped off a bridge to her death. Police bring the mysterious little girl to the hospital.

Detectives inform Fujii and Mayu about the fire that killed five people, including suspected arsonist Hatsuko, at the apartment building. Detectives add that there is no public record for the little girl, whom Hatsuko raised in secret. The girl explains that her mother called her Sadako, although her real name remains unknown. Mayu sees the girl telekinetically toppling toys while being interviewed. Mayu’s dropout brother Kazuma works with web marketing consultant Yusuke Ishida to boost his online presence as an aspiring YouTube personality. Ishida recommends recording a scary urban experience to excite Kazuma’s dwindling audience. Kazuma decides to investigate the apartment building fire.

Other children at the hospital tease the mysterious girl as an outcast due to her unsettling behavior. The girl telekinetically throws a rolling cart at her bullies. The girl collapses after seeing a vision of a dying old man in an elevator. When Mayu consoles her afterward, the girl tells Mayu about being imprisoned in her mother’s closet. The girl senses Mayu had a lonely childhood too. The girl collapses after seeing Sadako’s ghost reflected on a TV.

Ishida contacts Mayu to report that her brother disappeared following his visit to Hatsuko Sofue’s apartment. Mayu watches online video of Kazuma’s investigation, which shows talismans covering the interior of the closet where the girl was imprisoned. Kazuma flees in fright when he encounters Sadako’s ghost. Mayu pauses on a strange image of skulls underwater. Mayu encounters Ms. Kurahashi in an empty hospital hallway. An altercation ensues when Kurahashi realizes Mayu is afraid of her. Before Kurahashi’s anger fully intensifies, the girl entrances her. The girl then collapses. Video of a well suddenly plays on a lobby television. Sadako crawls out of the well, then out of the television, and finally climbs atop Kurahashi. Sadako also grabs Mayu, who faints.

When she recovers, Mayu discovers the girl was taken to ICU in a coma. Kurahashi is readmitted for psychiatric care. Mayu tells Fujii about seeing a ghostly woman with long hair. In a dream, Mayu relives the mysterious girl’s experience of imprisonment in a closet while her mother accuses her of being Sadako reincarnated. Believing her brother’s disappearance is connected, Mayu goes to see Kurahashi demanding to know who Sadako is. Kurahashi recounts the story of Sadako’s mother Shizuko Yamamura, a clairvoyant who killed herself following accusations of fraud. Shizuko’s daughter Sadako possessed the ability to strike people dead with a thought. Fearful of her power, Sadako’s father, Dr. Heihachiro Ikuma, threw the girl down a well to kill her, but created a curse that killed many people.

When Kurahashi grabs her, Mayu sees a vision of Kazuma and Sadako. Kurahashi warns that Mayu’s cursed brother cannot be saved. After Mayu leaves, water pools on Kurahashi’s ceiling. Sadako emerges from beneath the bed to kill Kurahashi. While watching another online video of her brother, Mayu sees images of a cave, a baby reflected in an eye, bodies rising from water, a woman falling to her death off a cliff, the submerged skulls seen previously, and also her brother.

Ishida calls to say he watched the strange video too, although he does not know how it was uploaded. Mayu and Ishida meet. Ishida tells Mayu about a cave on Oshima Island in Izu that became a shrine for dead priests until it was rendered off limits by a cave-in. A picture of the shrine shows a talisman like one seen inside the girl’s closet. Ishida also mentions an urban legend about a cursed video that once went around the internet. Mayu connects Ishida’s notes to Sadako’s origin and concludes Sadako was born on Oshima Island.

While taking a ferry to the island, Mayu warns Ishida that circumstances regarding the mysterious little girl’s upbringing somehow resurrected Sadako’s curse. At the cave, Mayu and Ishida meet an old woman who tells them unwanted babies were left to die inside the shrine and Sadako feeds on their souls. Mayu mentions that she and her brother grew up as orphans and wonders if she and Kazuma were called by Sadako to gather in the cave shrine with other abandoned spirits. Despite warnings about high tide, Mayu and Ishida investigate the cave at night. A ghostly hand pulls Mayu through a rock pile, leaving Ishida outside. Mayu learns Shizuko Yamamura actually abandoned her daughter when she sees a vision of the woman leaving Sadako in the cave as an infant. Sadako survived, which is how she manifested her horrible power.

A vision of the mysterious little girl appears. Writhing bodies rise out of a pool to begin pulling the girl underwater. Mayu embraces the girl, pledges to care for her, and pleads with her to fight back. Back at the hospital at the same time, the little girl comes out of her coma. Mayu sees the skulls and bones underwater as the vision of the girl vanishes. Ishida finally gets into the cave. He and Mayu find Kazuma. As the full moon aligns with a circular opening overhead, Sadako rises to attack Mayu. Kazuma sacrifices himself to rescue his sister. Sadako drowns Kazuma underwater.

Now mentally unstable, Mayu recovers as a patient in her former hospital. Before being discharged, the little girl thanks Mayu for helping her come out of her coma. Left alone afterward, Mayu flinches at the sound of dripping water.

• Sadako at IMDb