Unraveling the Mystery: As the God’s Will (2014) Horror Film Explained

Introduction: Horror enthusiasts should really give God’s Will a watch.

And for all the horror junkies out there in search of a movie to keep you on the edge of your seat, they should heavily consider checking out “As the God’s Will”. An unabridged Japanese horror cinema masterpiece of suspension and creativity to boot. The creepiness of the ambience, and the unearthly story itself, does this one for you, vice that of the regular horror flicks.

The plot of 'As the God's Will' are its wild ideas that gun you down onto a roller coaster of suspense. This film gracefully melds fear from today to old Japanese folklore when the world ended … it’s a thoroughly unnerving, entirely intractable ride. This is one of those must watch horror movies that, for those wondering how it wound its time together for the ultimate chronology of its horrific elements, and how it throws you so many curveballs while still keeping you so tense you can’t help but be captivated by it.

It’s not just about frights if you love Japanese horror, though; rather, it’s an exploration of that which is culturally Canadian, of uniquely Canadian pressures. At the same time, it’s really fun to lose yourself in that narrative, and hopefully be able to develop a slight bit of a sensitivity to the amount of depth and complexity that’s out there, when talking about things like Japanese horror stories. Any serious horror aficionado’s watch list should be alert to it, don’t sleep on it.

The Plot Unveiled: I will then break apart “As the God’s Will” bit by bit to decipher exactly what’s happening.

This is a cinematic rollercoaster of a film in which a gripping storyline keeps you on the edge of your seat, and no this is not an ‘oh my god’ lark, it’s the Gods Will. Takashi Miike directs a grimly ironic climax in a story that involves high school students forced to play deadly games at the behest of unseen sources.

Shun Takahata was the sort of ordinary student that would get caught up in a horrific game of survival, that started the moment one of his teachers head magically exploded into a Daruma doll, this would be some foreshadowing of strange test now to be had. There are games worse than the last, games of toil, and sweat, and uncertainty, and wishes, and fears, and all things you never think, you never think about.

On this episode of movie breakdown, we break down every layer, under every layer, in every layer of this very complex plot. Every single point in the storyline of it played it out perfectly, in the sense of how Shun and his classmates defeat the deadly challenges one by one and kill off any other players to where there’s only one dude left standing. However, that’s not the best part, it’s that film synopsis enserf the entire journey including the suspense, betrayal, and unexpected alliances.

It’s not just about surviving, because there really is that implication of free will versus fate there spiced in an environment of a very wild, very high stake narrative that left me questioning: well, am I going to do this? If faced with this? So whatever, everyone enjoy this plot summary so you don’t miss a single ounce or turn of the suspenseful twists when you watch.

We will touch As the Gods Will themes and symbolism section.

As a movie, that contains horror elements with suspense, God’s Will manages to entertain their audiences and to do it somehow with depth in visual symbolism and themes. On a surface level it is just a little survival story, but it also contains some more hidden seeming Japanese cultural themes in its story.

The most striking part of the film is certainly the symbolism. Every game that the students play is a metaphor that society, life will put pressures on a person and how unpredictable that will be. For example, the Japanese believe the Daruma doll symbolizes perseverance and resilience—kind of like they believe they can suffer adversity. Beyond mere survival symbolism, this simple thing is meant for the audience to consider how they get through their own struggles.

But it's not just that, though  "As the God's Will" also ties together more common horror movie themes and twists ... much of which are rooted in more common cultural themes. The theme running through the movie is fate against free will, and do you live your life the way it was meant to or the way you want to be. Through this thematic analysis I offer the viewers an experience of how these subjects exist within their life and our culture.

You could say that as with most Japanese cinema this film toys with your mind to try and answer some existential questions but it does so by fantastical storytelling. On these themes germane to Japan — conformity, authority, rebellion — it speaks using horror. These elements were woven together by the God’s Will to do something other than scare, it’s a statement about human nature and society structures.

Since As the god’s Will is rich with many symbols and themes, knowing what they are can help us understand its complex story. Not only is this a fun horror movie, because it really made us want to enjoy its suspense plot (and it’s really suspenseful), it also makes us partake in its deeper meaning, this being a badass example of how a good horror film can be not only fun, but a thought provoking cultural and identity meditation.

In this section we see the characters of the novel, how they bring to establish a feeling of suspense and fear.

In horror film making, the character analysis plays a bigger role than other genres when it comes to creating the suspense and fear that always submerge the target audience into itself. Protagonists intertwine with the adversaries and create tension on them and grab antagonist throats.

Your central protagonist is, after all, an ordinary man being thrown into, and out of, extraordinary situations but remaining your anchor, the audience that follows him. And exposure to their most base fears becomes such integral parts of their development through the course of the film, and you go on the journey with them. Because we have a part in their suffering, we want them to survive the unlivable, and therefore this is what elevates the suspense.

The other side by contrast is fear itself—some thing supernatural or some deeply sick human person. Their job is to unsettle characters, and their audience. A well made Antagonist directly confronts the protagonist and all the safety and death we have come to rely upon. While filmmakers experiment with how they will make us feel, and make us guess what might, or might not, happen next, they get to the heart of what makes these characters tick.

Horror movies don’t rely on making memorable heroes and villains; it’s all about suturing a story with every scene creating an increased pressure on your story. What makes those stories compelling stories of resilience or cautionary tales is that the protagonist moves from a vulnerable victim to an empowered survivor (or, for lack of resilience, a casualty).

Monster can pass after the credits to carefully analyzing the way parts are given to characters in horror films, for the only tool used to effectively make horror movies thus far and is used to this day is used to create suspense and fear. It’s that push and pull at the axis of protagonist bravery and antagonist menace, with a cast of rogues, losers, and other monsters, that keeps horror out front in these thrillers.

As the Gods Will: Cinematic Techniques To Exponentiate Terror

For the ranks of the horror viewer there is ‘As The God’s Will’, a testament to the fact that cinematic technique can make fear infinitely greater, and is, at least, a must see. The film 's cinematography is stunning: It’s fear and tension, and it’s in the movie. Claustrophobia and unease are terms I would use to describe the way the heavy framing and uneasy camera angles suck you into this world where feel vulnerable.

Also it’s a gnarly sound designed. There’s nothing to it but sound, no sentence too long, every creak and whisper, every sudden silence you’ve thought about always tightening the audience up. It doesn’t just play out sounding strategically, it’s something that just sort of builds and sticks to you for the whole film.

One of the other important elements of the ‘As the God’s Will’ to be another visual effects as the film uses iconography to tell the story. It blends with the CGI perfectly to create ridiculously realistic and believable horrors that either horrify you or lock you in place. In our walkthrough of how the film’s visual effects are made we’ll explain how it all works together to create such a visceral experience that lingers long after the credits roll.

And in 'As the God's Will' we're able to really let cinematography, sound design and visual effects be just what they need to be in telling their story, and a really great trip into the terror. This is not a tool collection, but rather core components that turn mundane filming conditions into ridiculous and creepy environments, which is just why this movie flies high in its category.

The Ending Explained: God’s Will Decoded is now the Climax.

Decoded serial ‘As the God’s Will’ climax part.

“When ‘As the Gods Will’ … suddenly climaxed in all manner of, at the similar time, its audiences answerless amused, overwhelmed and confused with a tornado of puzzling questions.” But to truly grasp a film’s final act, we must sometimes dig a little deeper into the symbolic material which drove those final moments.

Instead, in that final scene, Shun Takahata’s fate intersects at the same time as free will, and is put to its ultimate test. And this has nothing to do with survival, it’s about human choice. But this climactic sequence handily, and will continue to do so for the rest of the narrative, engagingly undercuts the idea that audiences can tell destiny from autonomous agency.

The final scene breakdown reveals layers of meaning: Right, if anything, from the game like trial design to that Shun's journey introspection. When we truly understand these work as metaphor of life, it’s unpredictable and we are finding the meaning of this chaos that exist around us. Reading these symbols, we reach an ending meaning that gives us hope and teaches us how to be resilient beyond impossible odds.

In the end, "As the God's Will" is an apt ending that forces and satisfies an audience to really think about their own story. In this I see the film conclusion through the lens of this not being the end of a film, but the beginning to think through our part in destiny.

Conclusion: Knowing ‘As the God’s Will what it means is an important thing to know while watching.

And, in the last, you may even be able to leave 'As the God's Will' terminus to your viewing of the photos, adding some depth and vibrancy, even if you don’t see them to be any more than simple entertainment. In this way you unravel yet another mystery, in regards to understanding the levels of storytelling in which other stories of meaning are layered next to each other to decipher their understanding of the meaning of fate and destiny, by extension human agency. In the end, it challenges your thinking of how everything affects character and plot development, but also makes what is happening in the story more personal.

And by evading the subtleties of the story, "As by the God’s Will" allows us to look at the meanings beneath, and allows for a more critical view that breaks the surface level meanings of the story, which would otherwise be missed, and allowing us to appreciate the creativity within the story. This will then build from passive watching of a film or series to active exploration of the philosophical questions and moral dilemmas films or series might pose.

Seeing it as philosophy also makes you enjoy it, and will give you a clue on how stories are told around the universal concepts no matter the backdrop. The next time you watch a film or a series with this motif, then think about it — and it’ll take you on a cycle deeper film watching trip.