Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman

Kuchisake-onna is a Japanese urban legend about a vengeful spirit with a slit mouth. According to folklore, she was a beautiful woman disfigured by her jealous husband, and she now roams neighborhoods asking children 'Am I pretty?' If they answer yes, she reveals her horrifying mouth and cuts them. The legend varies, but the core involves her seeking revenge for her traumatic death.

The film's opening establishes the legend through local superstition before revealing its connection to the characters.

The movie takes place in a small Japanese suburban town. Key locations include the local elementary school where Noboru works, an abandoned house that serves as the origin point for the haunting, and various everyday spaces like playgrounds, basements, and closets that become threatened by the spirit's presence.

The film explores three interconnected themes: Fear manifests as the spirit infiltrates ordinary spaces, turning familiar locations like schools and homes into dangerous environments. Trauma centers on Noboru's painful childhood memories of his mother Taeko, which fuel the present danger. Possession examines how Kuchisake-onna can inhabit women's bodies, corrupting personal identity and perpetuating the cycle of evil.

The recurring motif of the cracked doorway in the abandoned house symbolizes the opening through which trauma and possession enter the characters' lives.

Noboru Matsuzaki is an elementary school teacher who becomes the central figure trying to protect his students from Kuchisake-onna. Haunted by traumatic memories of his abusive mother Taeko, he is driven by both professional duty and personal resolution to confront the legend, eventually discovering it connects to his own family history.

Noboru's unease around his students hints at his protective instincts rooted in his own childhood suffering.

Kyōko Yamashita is a mother whose relationship with her own daughter is already strained when she becomes drawn into the nightmare. She fights to protect those around her, but her vulnerability as a mother makes her susceptible to possession by Kuchisake-onna, demonstrating how maternal figures can become vessels for the spirit.

The abandoned house serves as the eerie origin point of the haunting in the town. Its cracked doorway represents the boundary between the past and present being broken. This location connects directly to the source of the legend and becomes a key site where the spirit's power is anchored.

Kuchisake-onna is not a single physical entity but a malevolent spirit capable of inhabiting women's bodies. The possession manifests through physical transformation, violent coughs, and shifts in identity, from mother to housewife to student. Even after the spirit is physically destroyed through decapitation, it can transfer to a new host, ensuring the horror continues.

The narrative ties the legend directly to personal trauma through Noboru's backstory. His abusive mother Taeko represents the real-world horror that birthed the legend, with her failed life and vicious acts becoming the shadow behind Kuchisake-onna. The past resurfaces through decaying family history, showing how trauma fuels both the danger and the characters' responses to it.

Taeko Matsuzaki is Noboru's abusive mother, whose presence lingers as a traumatic memory throughout the film. She serves as the catalyst for the legend, with her failed life and vicious acts representing the real-world evil that the Kuchisake-onna legend embodies. Her corpse plays a crucial role in the ritualistic resolution of the story.

Mika Sasaki is a hesitant student who becomes a focal point of the town's fear. Her defiance and honesty drive her to confront the spirit directly, revealing fractures within families affected by the haunting. Her experiences illustrate how children bear the brunt of the terror, leaving her deeply scarred by encounters with Kuchisake-onna.