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The Fetist
Movie

The Fetist

1998 • Unknown

Woke Score
4
out of 10

Plot

In the district of Shinjuku, a cut-throat rōnin student crosses paths with an uninspired painter who does the utmost for his envisioned muse.

Overall Series Review

The Fetist (1998), a Japanese horror/drama, is a niche film focused on the psychological spiral of an alienated student and serial killer and his relationship with an obsessive painter. The narrative is driven by dark and chaotic themes, centering on non-normative sexual and relationship dynamics, abuse, obsession, and violence. The film is a pure psychological exploration of the urban underbelly. The score is significantly influenced by the central role of sexual identity and non-normative relationships, which define the primary characters and conflict. It avoids Western-style identity politics, feminist lecturing, and direct anti-Western Oikophobia. The lack of a moral or spiritual center in the face of escalating chaos contributes to a moderate score in the Anti-Theism category.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics3/10

The narrative is set in a Japanese context, eliminating any focus on the vilification of whiteness or historical race-swapping. Characters are defined primarily by their sexual identity, alienation, and psychological complexes. The core conflict does not exist to lecture on systemic oppression through an intersectional lens; rather, it is a psychological horror focusing on individual deviance.

Oikophobia1/10

The film is a product of Japanese cinema and critiques the dark, violent, and nihilistic undercurrents of its own contemporary urban society. It does not display hostility toward Western civilization, ancestors, or core Western institutions, which is the definition of the category.

Feminism2/10

Gender dynamics are not the primary focus of the movie. The core relationships and conflicts are male-to-male, involving a serial killer, a painter, and a rich patron. Female characters are peripheral to the main psychological drama. There are no 'Girl Boss' tropes, anti-natalist messaging, or overt emasculation of males; men are generally shown as psychologically complex, abusive, or violent.

LGBTQ+9/10

Sexual identity is the most important trait for the main characters, as the film is a Japanese LGBT-themed horror. The plot centers on a young man in an abusive gay relationship who becomes a serial murderer and the gay painter who becomes obsessed with him. This completely centers alternative sexualities and non-normative relationship structures as the foundation of the entire narrative.

Anti-Theism6/10

The plot's descent into chaotic, non-sensical violence and serial murder suggests a world without objective moral law or spiritual grounding. Violence escalates and behavior is depicted as irrational and chaotic, indicating a spiritual vacuum and moral relativism. However, the film is not overtly hostile toward or critical of a specific religion, such as Christianity, since that is not its cultural context.