Never After Dark aka Nebâ Afutâ Dâku (Japan 2026: Dir Dave Boyle)

If his name doesn't sound particularly Japanese, well you'd be right: but Dave Boyle, the American writer/director of Never After Dark, studied Japanese at university and has a history of incorporating Japanese themes (and cast members) into his projects.

So it's perhaps not surprising that his latest, a first foray into the realms of the supernatural, feels entirely authentic in atmosphere. But upfront it's worth mentioning that Boyle is not here to reproduce the usual elements of J-horror; Never After Dark is for the most part a slow, meditative piece, rather than a fright flick per se.

Airi (Moeka Hoshi) is, when we first meet her, driving to the location of her latest job. In the back seat is a young girl (Karumi Inagaki), seen reflected in the rear view mirror. The first impression is that this is either a mother/daughter setup or a standard older/younger sibling relationship. It's the latter but with one exception; the young girl is dead and can be only be seen by her sibling, who is a psychic for hire (the bittersweetness of this is compounded by Airi originally being the younger sister).

The employer in question is the welcoming but frightened Teiko (Tae Kimura) and her sceptical son Gunji (Kento Kaku). The pair have bought a huge house, a former hotel in the middle of nowhere, with a view to renovating it. But any plans have been halted because Teiko is being constantly haunted by the spirit of an unnamed man (Mutsuo Yoshioka); Airi has been employed to lay the ghost or, in her sister's words, "help them become unstuck and go to the next world".

A condition of the job is that Airi works alone (although her sister is constantly on hand to offer advice and support); Teiko and Ginji decamp to a local hotel. But not for long; the pair constantly return to the house to assess progress, even though Airi assures them that the process is pretty boring to observe, one which she only carries out during the day (hence the film's title).

But we do at least understand Teiko's concerns when Airi witnesses the apparition, a gaunt man with a hideous injury to the lower half of his face. However, it's not just the spirit with whom the ghost layer has to contend; the whole house, with its clocks that run backwards and a hidden compartment containing a tin box full of teeth, seems weird. Airi and her recently departed spirit assistant must solve the mystery of the haunting - even if the source of it may be earthbound in nature - using old school rituals such as hair burning and even a Victorian phenakistoscope, in increasingly desperate attempts to exorcise the restless spirit.

As others have commented, the closest comparator for the unusual goings on in Never After Dark is Ti West's 2011 movie The Innkeepers. Both movies offer a slow burn spooky setup whose cast of odd characters is as disconcerting as the central supernatural theme. Boyle's movie is arguably too slow at times, despite a final revelatory reel, but Hoshi and Iangaki give us a likeable pair of ghost hunters, and Boyle's attention to detail and mood creates a sustained atmosphere of weirdness and, on more than one occasion, profound sadness.

Never After Dark is released on digital platforms from 2 November.