Pray

Pray is a short Japanese horror film from 2005 that mixes crime and the supernatural. It follows Mitsuru and Maki, a desperate couple who kidnap a little girl named Ai to get ransom money. Mitsuru owes a huge drug debt and sees no other way out. They take the girl to an abandoned school, but when they call her parents, they hear something shocking. Their daughter has been dead for a year.

The setup sounds interesting. A kidnapping that turns into a ghost story could be both scary and emotional. But the film loses its way quickly. It’s only 77 minutes long, yet it tries to cram in too many twists. Double crosses, childhood trauma, dead siblings, and questions about what’s real. These ideas come too late and never get developed properly.

Most of the movie happens inside the same abandoned school. The empty hallways and flickering lights create a creepy mood at first. But then it just repeats itself. Mitsuru and Maki run around the same rooms, losing and finding the girl over and over. A few supernatural moments like toilets flushing on their own try to build tension, but they feel flat after a while.

The acting is okay but nothing special. The two leads do their best, but their characters are hard to care about. Mitsuru is supposed to be troubled and desperate, but we never really understand him. Maki just argues and panics the whole time. When other characters show up near the end, everything rushes to a confusing finish.

Pray had potential but feels like a missed opportunity. The idea of kidnappers facing their victim’s ghost could have been powerful. Instead, it looks nice but feels empty. The atmosphere works, but the story doesn’t. It’s not terrible, just forgettable. Nothing about it really stays with you after it ends.