Japanese horror has another rather unusual-looking arrival heading our way this week, with New Group, the latest film from director Yûta Shimotsu, making its way onto Shudder this Friday, November 6.
If you’ve seen Shimotsu’s previous film, Best Wishes to All, you’ll probably have some idea that he’s not particularly interested in making straightforward horror movies, and that 2024 release had plenty of strange ideas of its own, and New Group looks like another film that’s quite happy to go in some very odd directions.
This time around, the story follows high school student Ai, whose ordinary school life starts falling apart when a strange group mentality begins spreading among the people around her. Students start behaving like mindless followers, with seemingly innocent gymnastics routines becoming something far more disturbing. Before long, these coordinated movements turn into a nightmarish dance of death, and what begins at school starts spreading into the wider community.
There’s also a rather bizarre visual angle to the whole thing, with human pyramids and increasingly strange group formations playing a big part in the horror – Anna Yamada, Yuzu Aoki and Pierre Taki lead the cast, alongside Ren Komai, Arisa Sasaki, Jun Hosoi and Tomoya Maeno.
Shimotsu is directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with Momoko Sahara, with the film running for 82 minutes. New Group has already made appearances at several genre festivals, including Fantasia International Film Festival and Sitges, before now getting its Shudder release.
New Group arrives on Shudder on November 6, 2026.
More Asian horror movie news.
- Japanese Horror Film The Invisible Half Gets US DVD and Digital Release in November
- Shozin Fukui’s Cult Classic Rubber’s Lover Gets First-Ever 4K UHD Release
- Takashi Miike’s Over Your Dead Body Gets UK Blu-ray Release Date
- Zona Merah: Dead City Brings Indonesian Zombie Horror to Cinemas in January
- Tunnel 26 Postponed as Bhutan-Nepal Horror Film Plans Worldwide Release
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