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The Forest of Love (2019) movie poster

Timeline

The Forest of Love (2019) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2019 · 151 mins · Japanese
Echo score 63
Directed by
Sion Sono
Starring
Denden, Shin'nosuke Mitsushima, Takato Yonemoto, Young Dais, Kippei Shiina, Gaku Sano

Is it love or is it a lie? A con man and a would-be filmmaking crew force themselves into the lives of two grief-scarred young women. But nothing is as it seems.

On this page (5)
  1. 1 Events in order (13)
  2. 2 Timeline questions answered
  3. 3 Movie threads
  4. 4 Movies like The Forest of Love
  5. 5 Every angle

13 events in order · contains spoilers

The Forest of Love Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of The Forest of Love (2019) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Murata in restaurant watching news

    Joe Murata sits in a restaurant as a TV report details the misdeeds of a serial killer. He clutches a yearbook from a girls' school, with numerous photos crossed out, hinting at his fixation. He tells the waiter he is a screenwriter and asks if he knows what it's like to kill someone.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Restaurant
  2. Shin recruited to the warehouse project

    Two young men, Jay and Fukami, meet Shin and take him to the vacant warehouse where they're living. Jay explains he wants to make movies that explore criminal behavior legally. Shin's admission of virginity leads Jay to introduce him to Taeko, a promiscuous girl.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Warehouse
  3. Taeko introduces Mitsuko to Shin

    Taeko refuses Shin but introduces him to her high school classmate Mitsuko. Mitsuko is also a virgin, but she isn't interested in Shin. Taeko argues Mitsuko should 'make some scars and move on'.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Warehouse
  4. Flashback to a high school Romeo and Juliet

    In a flashback, Mitsuko and Taeko participate in a high school production of Romeo and Juliet, with Mitsuko playing Juliet and Eiko playing Romeo. With little experience with boys at their all-girls school, they explore sexuality and romance among themselves. Eiko is killed in a car accident and the play is cancelled; Taeko vows to become a 'slut' if she survives, and Taeko bears a scar and tattoos 'Romeo' on it.

    When
    Past (Flashback)
    Where
    All-girls high school
  5. Mitsuko meets Murata in the park

    Mitsuko receives a call from Murata claiming she had lent him 50 yen years earlier. They meet at a park where Murata arrives in a sports car and expresses attraction. Shin, Jay, and Fukami watch and record this encounter as part of their plan to film his scams.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Park
  6. The con is exposed and filming begins

    Mitsuko watches the video with Taeko and recognizes Murata as a con artist who had claimed to marry her sister. Taeko recalls sleeping with Murata and seducing her mother. The young men assemble a filming crew and begin making a movie about Murata, with Shin playing Murata.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Park / Filming location
  7. Murata seduces three women and a concert is staged

    Murata seduces Mitsuko, her younger sister Ami, and Taeko, leaving Mitsuko self-harming herself with a yen. He stages a concert where many of his former victims appear to compete for his affections. Afterward, the filmmakers meet him and decide to continue the collaboration.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Concert venue
  8. Money troubles and the project continues

    Murata reveals he has no money but promises to help with the project. The film crew quits, leaving Jay, Shin, Taeko, and Mitsuko to press on, now with Murata taking over and reveling in cruelty. Mitsuko reveals she is pregnant with his child.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Country house / film set
  9. Country house murder and disposal

    Murata coaches Mitsuko in a scene where she strangles Jay; Jay dies, and Murata instructs the group to dump the remains in a lake. Taeko tries to escape by boat but is killed by an unknown gunman.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Country house / lake
  10. Torture and blackmail back at Mitsuko's home

    Back at Mitsuko's home, Murata uses Mitsuko's involvement in Jay's death to blackmail her parents and tortures them on camera to extract funds. Ami seems to relish the cruelty, and Mitsuko's precarious pregnancy further complicates the situation.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Mitsuko's home
  11. A relative arrives and a brutal meal of killings follows

    A relative arrives to demand repayment, and Murata and Shin dismember the relative. Ami decapitates her father and discovers her mother is alive, and, at her mother's request, Ami kills her mother.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Mitsuko's home
  12. Forest confrontation and the killer is revealed

    In the forest, Mitsuko agrees to be killed and hints at knowing Murata was a con artist and Shin a killer. Shin shoots Ami and Mitsuko, then Murata is ordered to kill Ami, but Shin kills Ami himself and reveals he is the serial killer. Murata escapes, flags down a car, and glimpses a woman resembling Eiko as he runs into the woods after her.

    When
    Present
    Where
    Forest
  13. Closing text reveals the fate of the criminals

    On-screen text states that those behind the murders that inspired the film were caught in 2002 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

    When
    Post
    Where
    On-screen

Last updated: October 01, 2025 at 13:06

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Timeline questions answered

The Forest of Love Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of The Forest of Love (2019): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does Mitsuko agree to be killed in the forest?

Mitsuko agrees to die because she reveals she never took the sleep medication during the high school tragedy and had hoped Taeko would die that night. Throughout the film, she deliberately aligned with Murata and Shin, knowing they were dangerous, because she believed they would eliminate her family and Taeko as part of a twisted final outcome she had envisioned.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show Mitsuko watching the footage of Murata's con with unusual calm, hinting at her deeper complicity.

  • mitsuko
  • forest
  • death
  • taeko
  • sleep medication
  • high school
Q2

Who is Shin really and why is he the serial killer?

Shin is revealed to be the serial killer whose crimes were shown in the news at the film's opening. He recruited Jay and Fukami under the guise of making crime films, but his true nature as a murderer surfaces in the final act when he kills Ami and Mitsuko. The news report Murata watches in the restaurant foreshadows Shin's identity.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene with the TV news about a serial killer sets up Shin's true identity.

  • shin
  • serial killer
  • news
  • murder
  • killer identity
Q3

What happened on the roof the night Taeko fell?

After Eiko's death in a car accident, Taeko and four other girls took sleep medication and stood on the roof. Taeko vowed to become a "slut" if she survived. All five jumped, but Taeko was the only one who survived, left with a limp and a scar. She tattooed "Romeo" on the scar as a reminder of Eiko, who played Romeo in their school play.

Foreshadowing: The high school flashback explicitly shows the rooftop scene and Taeko's vow, establishing her trauma.

  • taeko
  • roof
  • fall
  • romeo
  • tattoo
  • scar
  • eiko
  • suicide
Q4

How did the movie project turn into actual murders?

The project started as Jay's legitimate idea to document criminal behavior. However, when Murata revealed he had no money, the crew abandoned them. Murata then took control, coaching Mitsuko in a fake strangle scene that became real - Jay actually died. The group then disposed of the body, and the violence escalated from there.

Foreshadowing: Jay's naive ambition to "make movies about crime legally" foreshadows how the project becomes a vehicle for actual crimes.

  • jay
  • murder
  • film project
  • murata
  • movie
  • crime
Q5

Why does Ami participate in torturing her own parents?

Ami becomes corrupted by the chaos, enjoying watching her parents be tortured by Murata. She even participates in the abuse directly. Her descent into cruelty is gradual - she initially sabotages Mitsuko's escape and later decapitates her father and kills her mother at her mother's urging, showing complete moral collapse.

Foreshadowing: Ami's enjoyment of the cruelty is first visible when she watches Murata torture her parents with a smile.

  • ami
  • parents
  • torture
  • murata
  • murder
  • family
Q6

What is the significance of Eiko's death in the flashback?

Eiko played Romeo to Mitsuko's Juliet in their high school's Romeo and Juliet production. Her death in a car accident caused the play's cancellation and triggered the traumatic rooftop incident. Murata's final escape mirrors this when he encounters a woman who resembles Eiko, suggesting she remains a symbolic figure throughout.

Foreshadowing: The film uses Eiko's death as the catalyst for the entire chain of psychological damage that follows.

  • eiko
  • car accident
  • romeo and juliet
  • death
  • high school
Q7

How does Murata manipulate all the women?

Murata uses classic con artist tactics: he seduces multiple women simultaneously (Mitsuko, Ami, and Taeko), exploits their vulnerabilities, and uses financial promises to control the filmmakers. He stages a concert where victims compete for his affection, demonstrating his psychological hold over them.

Foreshadowing: His initial approach to Mitsuko - claiming a 50 yen debt - establishes his pattern of creating false intimacy.

  • murata
  • manipulation
  • seduction
  • con artist
  • women
Q8

What happens to Mitsuko's pregnancy and why does she miscarry?

Mitsuko reveals she is pregnant with Murata's child. Later, when she and Ami go dress shopping, Ami sabotages Mitsuko's escape attempt by detonating an electric shock that causes her to miscarry and be hospitalized.

Foreshadowing: The pregnancy is revealed just as the group's financial situation deteriorates, adding another layer of desperation.

  • mitsuko
  • pregnancy
  • miscarriage
  • hospital
  • ami
Q9

Who is the woman in the car that Murata flags down at the end?

Murata flags down a car driven by a woman who strongly resembles Eiko, the girl who died in the car accident years earlier. When asked where she's heading, she replies "To hell." Murata runs into the forest chasing this Eiko-like figure while Shin drives away in their original car.

Foreshadowing: Eiko's death in the flashback and her role as Romeo establish her as a ghostly presence throughout the film.

  • murata
  • eiko
  • car
  • forest
  • escape
  • woman
Q10

How does Jay actually die during the filming?

Murata coaches Mitsuko in a scene where she pretends to strangle Jay. However, the scene becomes real - Jay dies actually strangled. Murata then convinces the remaining group members to help dispose of Jay's body in the lake.

Foreshadowing: The transition from "fake" murder scene to real murder is deliberately blurred by Murata's direction.

  • jay
  • death
  • strangle
  • murata
  • filming
  • murder
Q11

Why does Fukami quit the film project?

Fukami leaves the project when Murata reveals he has no real money to finance the film. Unlike the others who stay on, Fukami recognizes the situation has become dangerous and abandons the group.

Foreshadowing: Fukami's departure signals the moment the project shifts from filmmaking to criminal enterprise.

  • fukami
  • quit
  • film project
  • money
  • murata

Movie threads

More Movies Like The Forest of Love, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes The Forest of Love tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Dark psychological manipulation movies like The Forest of Love

Stories where charismatic predators weave complex webs of psychological control. If you were fascinated by the predatory games in The Forest of Love, this collection features movies with similarly cunning con artists and intricate psychological manipulation. These stories explore the dark dynamics of control, deception, and the exploitation of vulnerability, delivering a deeply unsettling viewing experience.

  • manipulative
  • unsettling
  • psychological
  • deceptive
  • chilling
  • oppressive
  • Tone: dark, unsettling, deceptive
  • Pacing: variable, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative typically centers on a charismatic but dangerous figure who systematically exploits the vulnerabilities of others. The plot unfolds as a series of calculated moves and betrayals, often blurring the lines between reality and performance, leading to devastating emotional and psychological consequences for the victims.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here for their shared exploration of psychological dominance, the mechanics of deception, and the chilling charisma of their antagonists. They create a similar feeling of being an uneasy observer to a carefully orchestrated emotional destruction.

Complex meta-narrative movies similar to The Forest of Love

Stories that deconstruct storytelling, blurring the lines between creator, subject, and truth. For viewers who appreciated the layered, self-referential storytelling in The Forest of Love, this section highlights other movies with film-within-a-film structures and meta-narratives. These complex stories examine the blurred lines between reality and fiction, often with dark and psychologically brutal outcomes.

  • meta
  • unreliable
  • complex
  • deconstructive
  • psychological
  • grim
  • Tone: dark, complex, bleak
  • Pacing: variable
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern involves characters who are themselves creating a narrative—making a film, documenting events, or constructing a false reality. This layering creates tension between what is presented and what is real, leading to revelations about the motives of the creators and the disturbing consequences of their artistic or manipulative endeavors.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their shared structural complexity and thematic focus on artifice. They appeal to viewers who enjoy puzzles, unreliable perspectives, and stories that critically examine the act of storytelling itself, often with a dark or cynical edge.

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Movies Like The Forest of Love

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Every angle

The Forest of Love (2019) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about The Forest of Love in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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