Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
The story of a teenage boy called Yu, who falls for Yoko, a girl he runs into while operating for the sake of sin as an upskirt photographer in an offshoot of the porn industry. His attempts to woo her are complicated by a spot of cross-dressing - which convinces Yoko that she is lesbian - dalliances with kung-fu and crime, and a constant struggle with the guilt that's a legacy of his Catholic upbringing.
Love Exposure is a singular, maximalist epic from Sion Sono that defies easy categorization — part Catholic guilt meditation, part absurdist comedy, part punk romance, part cult thriller. The plot is genuinely inventive and sprawling, weaving together upskirt photography as martial art, religious obsession, and a Zero Church cult into a cohesive 4-hour odyssey that earns its runtime. Novelty is undeniable: there is simply no other film quite like this in world cinema. Cinematography is functional and energetic but not especially distinguished. Acting is committed and earnest across the board, though uneven in places. The ending, while emotionally satisfying, loses some steam in its final stretch and feels slightly overextended.