Re/Member Plot Synopsis
Re/Member feels like a spin on Happy Death Day, following six different high school students who find themselves trapped in a time loop and stalked by a horrific ghost known simply as The Red Person.
The only way for these teens to escape is to find the body parts of the corpse belonging to the ghost’s previous victim, bring them together and hope they survive the night without being killed. Or worse, eaten and obliterated from history.
With each night resetting and the teens finding themselves thrown deeper into this mystery, the film takes on an extra dimension as it explores each of these kids and what’s brought them all together – and why they’ve been chosen for this task.
Why are the kids together in this time-loop?
Shota, the high school nerd, explains to the others that there’s a Body Search game that’s been infamous to the school’s history. Within this, a group of kids are chosen by a strange supernatural force to play a game, which involves finding the dismembered body parts of a murder victim. Only, said victim is also the possessed supernatural force after our characters, known as the demonic Red Person. It chases them around the school and attempts to kill them.
The game starts every night at midnight, where the kids are brought to the school and forced to relive this nightmarish ordeal until they gather all the body parts and bring them together. The thinking here is that the body can give the victim closure, thus freeing them from the game. We soon learn though that the body in question belongs to 8 year old Miko Onoyama, whom we saw killed during the film’s brutal opening.
Are there other survivors of the Body Search game?
Asuka, Takahiro, Rumiko, Rie, Shota, and Atsushi work together to collect up all the body parts but realize they need to find the most important part – the head. This is a task made all the harder by a big reveal just prior to this with Asuka and Mr Yashiro. It turns out Yashiro was actually part of this Body Search game too and he was the lone survivor.
Yashiro admits to Asuka he doesn’t have any memory of it save for a book, which details how this is being played in different parts of the world. The fact that he had such good memories of his schoolmates who were never really his friends, is eerily similar to that of Asuka’s journey with her ragtag group of teens.
Asuka is shaken by this revelation, realizing that once the game is over, the players will not remember their ordeal and return to their original lives. She tells Takahiro about this dilemma, and the boy promises to remember and find her when this is all over. He gives her his beloved tie pin to try and solidify their bond.
Is The Red Person stopped?
The group realize, to their dismay, that the head of the creature is exactly what they’re after, meaning they have no choice but to work together and thwart the creature.
Despite setting up defences and going at the creature with an array of weapons, Shota is eaten. The remaining four chain the creature up and proceed to use a chainsaw to take it down. Unfortunately, Rumiko is pierced through the chest in doing so while Atsushi is eaten. Takahiro takes a chainsaw to the creature’s head, which does the trick and releases the skull needed to finish the severed body.
Unfortunately Takahiro is also killed by the Red Person, with a desperate Asuka left to destroy its remains, which is symbolically destroyed by a cross. A desperate Asuka replaces the head and wakes up the next day.
How does Re/Member end?
Asuka shows up at school like normal and all the other students are there too. Of course they don’t remember anything that’s happened, although it’s hinted that Asuka does. This makes sense, given it ties into Yashiro’s story and could well be the reward for “breaking the cycle”. One could also argue that Yashiro was lying and he did, in fact, remember but he’s keeping quiet about it.
Halfway through the day, Asuka drops Takahiro’s pin on the floor. Funnily enough, Takahiro notices and picks up. His memories for Asuka, and the love he feels for her, comes rushing back and he calls out her name. As he does, Asuka grins knowingly, only reinforcing what we said earlier about her retaining her memories.
Is there a post-credit scene?
Yes! Stick around for the post-credits because the camera pans over to the well (the one Asuka saw all those frightening visions from) and the camera whooshes down, where we hear the sound of raindrops. A newspaper article about Miko’s death slowly fades and in its place, a new girl called Asuka shows up as the murder victim.
What could the ending mean?
There are several different theories here but it could well be that Asuka is the next victim for the Red Person. The newspaper may be a foreshadowed glimpse of what Asuka will need to overcome in order to stop the demonic entity, setting up a sequel where she needs to try and survive before she’s killed, potentially with a time loop addition of Asuka going back in time to prevent her own death.
Alternatively, it could be that Asuka is killed and becomes the new Red Person altogether, with a second movie exploring this whilst also introducing a brand new set of characters for a round of Body Search, attempting to free Asuka. Whether any of this materializes or not though, depends on whether a sequel is green-lit!
Read More: Re/Member Movie Review
Before saying it’s a spin on Happy Death Day, you should know this is an adaptation of the manga and anime series Karada Sagashi.
What I found strange about the ending was tashiros comment in the library about how he’s know asuka since 1st grade. Then he says “yeah, I even went on a trip to an amusement park with her and her family.” To which asuka quickly covers his mouth and exclaims “no! Don’t tell them about that!” which just happens to be the same place the new article mentions she went missing. So does she remember that? Does he? What was he going to tell the group and what doesn’t she want known about that trip. I don’t think that comment was made out of coincidence.
The other theory is that she too is a ghost but does things differently by choosing students who are similar to her in loneliness and puts restless spirits like that red girl to find peace.?