Noriko's Dinner Table(2005)
2005 · Sion Sono · 159 min
A teenager named Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Toyokawa, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's family circle, which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.
Drama · Thriller · Horror
7.0164 votes
TMDB score
4/5
Intensity
1/5
Gore
5/5
Stays with you
How Noriko's Dinner Table scares
There's a cold, quiet unease that builds the whole way through, more like watching a slow unraveling than a traditional scary movie. It moves at a deliberate, talky pace, told through narration and shifting points of view, with almost no jump scares or sudden shocks. The horror here comes from watching identity and family fall apart in ways that feel eerily plausible, not from monsters or violence. It's a heavy, thoughtful watch best suited for people who want to feel disturbed and unsettled rather than thrilled.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Noriko's Dinner Table rates psychological 5/5, visceral 1/5, gore 1/5, lingering effect 5/5, and overall intensity 4/5.
- Psychological: 5 of 5
- Visceral: 1 of 5
- Gore: 1 of 5
- Lingering: 5 of 5
- Intensity: 4 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 8 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 92 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 85 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, talky, dreamlike drift that simmers with unease rather than shocks, gradually thickening into a heavier, more unsettling back stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3, 4.
How scary is Noriko's Dinner Table?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, Noriko's Dinner Table rates 4/5 — one of the more punishing watches in the catalog, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. The fear is mostly in your head — it unsettles far more than it assaults. Expect it to be restrained with gore and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
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