Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition (2021) Film Review

Posted on by Jim Cox

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Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition (Ibutsu – Kanzenhan) is a 2021 Japanese horror drama film written and directed by Kenichi Ugana. Renowned for directing bloody horror, Kenichi is recognised as the creator behind films such as Visitors: Complete Edition (2023), the Japanese-Taiwanese collaborative horror The Curse (2025), and the upcoming Incomplete Chairs (2025). The film compiles four short films from Kenichi’s Extraneous Matter series.

Trapped in a dull and emotionally distant relationship, a woman discovers a strange, alien tentacle creature inside her home. Her encounter sparks a series of events as similar beings begin to appear across Japan.

Exploring relatable human drama amidst a quite outrageous premise, Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition successfully combines turbulent relationship issues with out-of-this-world tentacle monster action. While Japan is no stranger to shokushu cinema, with examples like the Urotsukidoji anime series and the adaptations of La Blue Girl and Angel of Darkness, the film notably lacks the rape and sexual violence often prevalent in the genre.

Instead, the alien creature is depicted more as a Lovecraftian ‘Hitch’, aiding those with troubled relationships in overcoming their issues with a helping hand (or tentacle). Although the film is highly sexual in tone, it is rarely overly graphic–with nudity kept (relatively) modest throughout. That said, the film does feature scenes of nudity, with several intense sex scenes interwoven through its vignettes.

Using entirely desaturated footage, Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition’s deliberate visual style is highly stylised throughout. The careful approach to shot composition allows the cinematography to slow the film’s pace, mirroring the monotony experienced by the characters. The extended, ambient shots of seemingly mundane moments, such as a coffee pot filling or dinner being cooked, help to emphasise a slice-of-life atmosphere. Additionally, the mix of wide-angle shots does a great job at establishing a scene, and tight close-up shots of characters help bring a personal attachment between the character and the scene.

Featuring intricately designed puppetry, the tentacle creature looks fantastic–utilising a H.R. Geiger-esque design similar to the Xenomorph from Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). Furthermore, although the puppet itself is immobile, with any body movement consisting of being carried by another character, it still manages to be a highly kinetic presence through the movement of its multiple tentacled limbs.

Punctuating Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition with a mostly ambient score, the use of environmental background noise, subtle low drones, as well as a few instrumentals to bracket the later vignettes, does an exceptional job at delivering a character-driven tone to a scene. That notwithstanding, the film employs a more imposing use of music during the several sex scenes–employing a harsher, synth-heavy industrial noise soundtrack that certainly juxtaposes the slice-of-life narrative elements and atmospheric score.

Daringly idiosyncratic, Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition is an unconventional exploration of emotional stagnation, combined with an outlandish sci-fi twist, to create a wholly unique piece of cinema. With its stylish visuals, outstanding puppetry, and fantastic performances from the cast, the film is a remarkable exhibition of Kenichi’s audacious creativity, which defies categorisation.

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