Belladonna of Sadness
Belladonna of Sadness
An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge.
Shamus2k reviewedJuly 10, 2025
Belladonna of Sadness begins with striking, almost hypnotic artwork that initially draws the viewer in, but as the film progresses, it quickly becomes increasingly ponderous and meandering. It relies heavily on still images and narration, feeling less like a film and more like an illustrated fever dream that drags well past its welcome. Its high IMDb rating appears to be heavily skewed by a cult following that celebrates its obscurity and shock value more than its actual substance. Beneath the surface, the film offers little meaningful narrative and falls into a troubling pattern seen in certain corners of Japanese animation and cinema—an unnerving fixation on sexual violence, particularly rape and torture, framed as artistic or symbolic. Rather than challenging or transcending those themes, Belladonna seems to aestheticize them, which undermines any deeper message it might have intended.