Re/Member (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
“Seriously, could life get any better than this?
Only if we were not being murdered every night…”
That’s just a sample of this latest Japanese horror-comedy’s scathing sense of humor. Re/Member is now available to stream on Netflix and follows a group of six random high school students as they try to demystify their circumstance of waking up on the same day and getting attacked by someone called a “red person.” It makes great use of the time loop trope whilst also exploring meaningful themes of loneliness, friendship, and community. There are a lot of similarities with Happy Death Day, although Re/Member is its own unique film.
Contrary to the horror tone, director Eiichiro Hasumi fashions a compelling and attractive portrayal of friendship. The students not only have to decipher the mystery behind the creature but also make an attempt to understand each other better. This ending explainer of Re/Member will try to uncover all important plot points, including the origins of the creature, why the six students were chosen, and the ending, where Takahiro miraculously remembers Asuka. Let’s dive right into the ending explainer for Re/Member on Netflix without wasting any more time!
Re/Member (2023) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis:
Asuka Morisaki is a shy high school student who remains aloof to her classmates and other students. She does not really have any friends. But she has a past connection to Takahiro Ise, the school heartthrob and the most popular guy among the girls. It is seemingly a normal day: 5 July, Tuesday. While coming to school, Asuka sees a cat killed under the tires of a truck. She sees several pairs of bloodied hands coming out from the school well during lunchtime. And come night, she finds herself back in the school along with five other students.
A small girl, covered in blood and carrying a doll, viciously chases them. She kills them all. But the next day, Asuka discovers that all of them are alive. But the day is yesterday, i.e., 5 July. Asuka, Takahiro, Atsushi, Rumiko, Rie, and Shota must follow the instructions on Shota’s phone to a game called Body Search, which they have unwittingly become a part of.
The origins of the “Red Person” Explained:
The film starts with a sort of flashback when we see a little girl running through the woods and into a building. Someone with an axe chases her and ultimately catches up. He mercilessly kills her, and we see the doll being smeared with blood. From the next scenes, we learn that it was the high school where the central group of students was admitted.
When they visit the same building where the girl was murdered, we learn about the origins of how she became the “red person” and who she was before that.
Her name was Miko Onoyama. She had some sickness due to which she could not attend school. She spent every day in that house, and Emily became her most prized possession as a result. The movie does not tell us any more than this about the incident. Hence, we do not know why the man killed Miko or who he was. But Miko’s body was dismembered and buried across the different parts of the school. That is why she became this haunted spirit in the game.
What is the task that the group must complete to break the time loop?
The ones chosen must find the victim’s hidden, dismembered body parts. The name of the game is “Body Search.” It starts at midnight. The day will begin at 7 AM in the morning on 5 July Tuesday, and at midnight, that is 6 July, Wednesday, the game will begin. The “red person” will come out of hiding to chase the group. They must do their best to find all the parts of her body and place them in the coffin kept in the school chapel. The game will not be complete until they find all the body parts. If the game is unfinished, they will have to keep going through the time loop and play the game.
What does Mr. Yashiro, the librarian, tell Asuka about the game?
Mr. Yashiro mostly stayed in the background throughout the film. However, he came into the forefront when Asuka wanted to understand what had happened to Rie after the monster ate her. Her existence was erased, and it was like Rie never lived. Yashiro showed her a book called “Comparative Study of Occult Culture Deciphering Body Searches Worldwide” That is when he remembered that he, too, was part of a body search years ago when he was in high school. But after the search was over, they could not remember the event of the searches.
He could not remember his friends. Once the search is over, your memories of it go away, and there is nothing you can do to bring them back. They might come back if there is a significant image or symbol that sticks with you from the game. Yashiro had faint memories of the game when he saw the group assembled in the library. Asuka showed him that she was also playing this game when she caught a flower pot disturbed by the wind. All of this happens when the search is “complete”; that is, all the parts of the body are kept in the coffin.
What happens to the “Red Person” when the group finds Emily the doll?
The red person converts into a huge creature, giving the impression that the red person has morphed into the doll’s upper body. The tall creature is Emily the doll till the head, and Miko’s head has developed sharp razor-like teeth that can cut through any normal human being with ease.
When the group went to the house and found the room where Miko stayed, they also discovered that the doll was buried behind a wall boarded up by wood. Before they can dig the doll out, Shota screams, and the doll disappears.
This is later proved to have awoken the doll in some ways. Now that it was no more hidden, it went back to the spirit of Miko, and the two joined forces to form the menacing creature.
How does Asuka figure out where Miko’s dismembered head is?
As we reach the film’s climax, the only body part left to be found is the head. Shota is dejected as he knows the group has searched the premises of the school twice but has not been able to find the head.
Asuka gets the idea that the head might be in the doll itself. In one of the instances during the game, Rumiko, Asuka, and Rie were in the swimming pool. The “Red person” found the trio and attacked them. Asuka was the last one to die but noticed that when the creature dropped the doll, it dove into the water head first.
This would have been only possible if there was some weight in the doll. Otherwise, it would have just floated. That is how Asuka guesses that the head is in Emily, and to get to it, they must tear away the body of the creature monster.
Why were the individual members of the group chosen? What common thread binds them together?
We see that the group eventually became friends, knowing they would return to this reality after dying in the search as it was still incomplete. They wondered what brought them together and why they were chosen to play this game. Visual cues were not enough to reveal a common thread as they also belonged to different social groups and had different personalities. It is before the final assault on the creature to get the head that Takahiro mentions the possible reason: all of them have cracks in their hearts.
In some way or another, all of them were lonely in life. Asuka and Shota were shown to be literally lonely and labeled weirdos by the others, while Rie and Takahiro felt out of place with the attention they got and the purpose of the people to stick with them. They were good-looking and popular, and others could get popular by being in their company.
Atsushi’s story was also very similar to theirs. As Takahiro revealed, Takahiro and Atsushi were friends in middle school. The latter was a basketball star but got injured before tryouts and could not make it to the team.
Rumika learned that her biker boyfriend, who was a bartender, was cheating on her. She was merely his sidepiece. And in that sense of understanding, she was alone too. Takahiro caught up on this trend and said that no matter what, the group that has been brought together must stay as one and fight the creature.
Re/Member (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
How does Takahiro “remember” Asuka?
The ending of Re/Member started with the second last game night. We saw that the doll and the girl were morphed into one huge entity that attacked the group ruthlessly. On this occasion, we saw the creature eating Rie. And the next morning, something had changed. Due to Takahiro’s intervention, the cat that survived every time before died.
Rie’s name is gone from the desk, and she is nowhere to be found. No one knows who she is! Rie got eaten in the last turn by Emily. Her existence is erased. The group collectively decided to end this game once and for all, as they all run the risk of being erased if they get eaten.
They set up a trap for the monster that night to trap it in chains and then use a chainsaw to cut its head off. Asuka and Takahiro discussed their insecurities before the night began. Asuka feared that irrespective of what happened in the next body search, she would disappear in everyone’s eyes again because they would have no memory of the search once it was completed.
Takahiro said that he did not choose to pursue the interest in making himself a professional basketball player because he feared that he would fail. They embrace each other, and Takahiro gives Asuka his tie pin to make sure she remembers her.
The night begins, and we see the monster arrive. Contrary to their plan, it jumps through the roof right in the middle of the room, giving them a setback. They still tried to improvise, but each member had to make sacrifices before it could be brought under control. Shota, Rumika, and Atsushi are killed. But by then, the monster is in chains, and Takahiro cuts off its head. They find the missing piece, but the monster is not ready to give up. It follows them into the chapel, and Takahiro decides to distract it yet again. He is killed, and the monster overpowers Asuka. This awakens something in her, and she valiantly fights it.
The cross that was hanging in the air drops on the monster to finally kill it. And Asuka uses this opportunity to complete the body in the coffin. She falls asleep and wakes up the next morning: 6 July, Wednesday. As expected, the group has no memory of the game, and everything is back to normal. Rie is back in the mix and chooses the committee for the upcoming festival celebration. It is a coincidence that all the group members are part of the committee, and when Takahiro sees the tie pin falling from Asuka’s skirt, he knows the truth. Asuka is elated, and we then cut to black.
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Watch Re/Member Movie Trailer
Re/Member (2023) Movie Links – IMDb
Re/Member (2023) Movie Cast – Kanna Hashimoto, Gordon Maeda, Maika Yamamoto
Where to watch Re/Member
