Eichi Sato, known better in the following years for his work on the live-action adaptations of Lychee Hikari Club (2016) and Miso Misou (2018), found his way to shock us from the very beginning with his debut movie. Let’s Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club (2011) is a film with many flaws, but its gut-punching premise will definitely take the viewer by surprise.
The group of middle school girls led by a teenage sociopath who wants to end their teacher’s pregnancy may sound too outrageous to give it a try. However, as the director stated, the plot is based on a real-life crime that happened in the Aichi prefecture. While some characters and events have been changed, like the gender of the perpetrators, that does not mean this movie is any less disturbing. On the contrary, it makes it an even more messed-up series of events.
What’s Let’s Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club about?
Let’s Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club tells the story of Sawako, a middle school teacher struggling with rowdy teens and their overbearing parents who believe their kids can’t do any wrong. One day, she finds out she is pregnant and decides to share the news with her class. She gets mixed reactions from the people around them, especially from the group of problem girls led by Mizuki, a budding sociopath. They don’t like Sawako and think the whole thing is gross, so eventually, they decide it would be “fun” to prank her until she gets hurt enough to miscarry.
The reasons behind this decision vary among the kids. Some are just bored little shitlings, and some others are just followers, but in the case of Mizuki, it goes deeper. She is a neglected child struggling with her hatred towards motherhood and being a girl going through puberty. In a way, Sawako represents all she detests, so, in her mind, her violence makes sense. From then on, the girls found a club and every day find new ways to torment Sawako, like poisoning her food or messing with her chair. She finds out soon about their plan, but no one wants to listen. It is impossible that kids, above all, girls, can do something like this! Right?
Is Let’s Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club good?
It is pretty clear this movie had a tight budget. The lighting and music design are a bit off, with the quality V-cinema. Still, that does not mean it has a subpar production, it is just a bit too amateurish for some. If you like the atmosphere of Katsumi and 4444444444 (1998) or even Daisuke Yamanouchi’s Red Room (1999), you will enjoy this film a lot.
As for the plot, this is where Let’s Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club shines the most. The pacing is unnerving and the dialogue is straight to the point. While there are a number of silent scenes, there are no embellishments or subtleties. Everything is exactly what it is, which is quite disturbing given the subject matter.
Final Thoughts
Let’s Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club is an interesting movie that you should add to your watchlist if you are into more obscure Japanese films. It is not a masterpiece but it is neither mediocre nor forgettable. As we mentioned before, it is inspired by a real-life crime, so that levels up the horrifying factor. While the original case ended up with the teacher safe and sound and the culprits discovered, it is up to you to find out if these girls are successful in doing the unspeakable to their teacher.
More Film Reviews
It may seem odd to call a film as austere and violent as Undergods beautiful, with its bleak tones against a setting reminiscent of Cold War Era Brutalist architecture, all… Sometimes, Netflix comes out with an unexpected horror film that reinvigorates my hopes for the platform in terms of horror content. For the past few days, it was the Fear… Exposure therapy is a psychological treatment used in helping patients with confronting and overcoming their fears. With KIMI, Steven Soderbergh’s mix of paranoid, domestic suspense and techno-thriller, the Academy Award-winning… “Probation officer Cathy Madden is given the task of rehabilitating notorious killer ‘Bloody’ Mary Laidlaw back into society after she was imprisoned 20 years earlier for butchering her husband with… Things Heard and Seen is an unusual, psychological horror film where several tropes are turned on their heads, while the important beats are still captured. Domestic relationships, power dynamics, and… Heading back to the coastal town where he is haunted by the memories of a past friend, Martin ends up meeting Lucas and the two begin to search for clues…
Undergods (2020) Film Review: Beautiful and Brutal Art House Horror
A Classic Horror Story Film Review – A New Horror of Netflix
KIMI Movie Review (2022) – In Vivo Exposure
Mandrake (2022) Film Review – Eerie Folk Horror
Things Heard and Seen (2021) Film Review – Unique Phycological Horror
Phantom Summer (2022) Film Review – The Opera Macabre
Hi everyone! I am Javi from the distant land of Santiago, Chile. I grew up watching horror movies on VHS tapes and cable reruns thanks to my cousins. While they kinda moved on from the genre, I am here writing about it almost daily. When I am not doing that, I enjoy reading, drawing, and collecting cute plushies (you have to balance things out. Right?)