Owl (2003) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

They are the last two survivors in the dying village of Kibogaoka around 1980 and are slowly starving to death. With no food, electricity, or hope for survival, the mother proposes luring men from the dam construction site with promises of sex, then poisoning them to steal their money. This desperate plan becomes their only means of staying alive.

Foreshadowing: The film opens with the daughter contemplating eating a lizard, establishing their extreme desperation.

• survival
• desperation
• starvation
• murder
• Kibogaoka

The women pass off a homemade Shōchū as alcohol, but it is actually brewed from a poisonous plant found in the area. The victims drink it after spending the night, and the poison causes them to foam at the mouth, make animal noises, and die. The women then dispose of the bodies and keep all the money the victims brought.

• poison
• Shōchū
• plant poison
• murder method

Mizuguchi reveals he is an employee of the repatriation department whose father was responsible for creating Kibogaoka. He intends to commit suicide to atone for his father's role in destroying the village. The mother sees him as a sympathetic figure rather than a target and decides not to poison him, choosing instead to let him leave alive.

• Mizuguchi
• suicide
• atonement
• spared

After surviving his suicide attempt, Mizuguchi returns believing his plan to die was a sin. He confesses his feelings for the daughter and asks to marry her, proposing they start a new life together. This转变 from wanting to die to wanting to live and build a future represents a major shift in his character and creates tension with the women's criminal operation.

Foreshadowing: Mizuguchi initially asked for 20,000 yen back for travel costs to his planned suicide site, showing his financial desperation.

• Mizuguchi
• marriage
• suicide
• daughter

Koji is the mother's nephew who arrives unexpectedly at the cabin during the climax. He reveals he avenged his mother after she was mistreated by her employers, and he himself was wounded by a servant's gun during his act of vengeance. His arrival brings the family's cycle of violence full circle, adding another layer to the story's themes of retribution and survival.

• Koji
• nephew
• vengeance
• family

During the confrontation, Mizuguchi, the police inspector, and Koji are all present in the house. When they confront each other, a struggle ensues and all three men kill one another in the chaos. The exact details of who kills whom remain somewhat ambiguous, but the result is that all three men die, leaving only the mother and daughter alive.

• Koji
• Mizuguchi
• inspector
• confrontation
• deaths

One year later, authorities discover nine corpses with traces of the poison at the deserted house, but they do not suspect the mother and daughter. The authorities believe the two women were incapable of such crimes and view them as victims rather than perpetrators. This allows the women to escape completely, though they have vanished from the village by the time of the investigation.

• escape
• not caught
• police
• investigation
• corpses

The boss had been investigating the disappearances of his missing workers from the dam project. To silence him and prevent him from uncovering their operation, the women lure and kill him using the same method they used on previous victims. His death brings them more money and eliminates the threat of a serious investigation.

• dam boss
• kill
• silence
• investigation

By the end of the film, the women have killed at least seven men: the dam construction worker, the electrician, the plumber, another worker, the electrician's boss, the dam construction boss, and three additional men (Mizuguchi, the inspector, and Koji) during the final confrontation. The epilogue mentions nine corpses total discovered by authorities.

• victims
• murders
• deaths
• count

Kibogaoka was a farming village that progressively declined, likely due to the dam construction project that displaced its population. By the time of the story, only the mother and daughter remain as the last inhabitants. The village's destruction was orchestrated by Mizuguchi's father and the dam-building company, which provides motivation for Mizuguchi's guilt and desire for atonement.

• Kibogaoka
• village
• dam
• destruction
• abandonment

After successfully disposing of the bodies from the final confrontation, the women sit down to drink beer and quietly sing Kibogaoka's anthem. This moment reflects their psychological disconnect and the normalization of their crimes. It also symbolizes their connection to the dying village and their hollow victory, they have survived but at the cost of their humanity.

• village anthem
• celebration
• aftermath
• psychology