The Complex

The Complex

Year: 2013

Runtime: 106 mins

Language: Japanese

Director: Hideo Nakata

Horror

Nursing student Asuka moves into a new apartment complex with her family, but unsettling events quickly unfold. Awakened by strange scratching noises, she investigates her neighbor’s apartment and discovers an elderly man dead from malnutrition. Disturbingly, it appears he was desperately trying to break into her room. The handyman, Shinobu, reveals a history of mysterious deaths within the building, fueling rumors of a haunting and raising questions about the complex's dark secrets.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – The Complex (2013)

Explore the full timeline and setting of The Complex (2013). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Dilapidated apartment complex, Shinozaki's flat

A cramped, decaying apartment complex serves as the central setting where Asuka moves with her family. The building's walls hold memories and tragedies, especially the neighbor Shinozaki's flat whose quiet facade hides a lingering presence. The story unfolds within claustrophobic corridors and small rooms, where everyday life becomes entangled with the dead. The place itself feels suffocating, mirroring Asuka's escalating emotional turmoil.

🏚️ Abandoned building 🏠 Haunted residence 👻 Supernatural

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 20:04

Main Characters – The Complex (2013)

Meet the key characters of The Complex (2013), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Asuka Ninomiya (Atsuko Maeda)

A nursing student who moves into a dilapidated apartment complex with her family. She is emotionally fragile, coping with the loss of her parents and brother while experiencing escalating supernatural disturbances. Her attempts to understand the hauntings reveal a desperate need for connection and safety, making her susceptible to Minoru's influence.

🎓 Nursing student 💔 Grief 🧠 Fragile psyche

Isao Ninomiya (Masanobu Katsumura)

Asuka's father, part of the family that moves into the aging complex. His presence anchors the family's day-to-day life even as the house harbors unresolved grief. He represents the ordinary, struggling with the strain of a deteriorating home and emotional distance.

👨‍👧 Family man 🏚️ Strained home 🧭 Everyday life

Sachiko Ninomiya (Naomi Nishida)

The mother of the Ninomiya family, whose memory and absence loom over the apartment. Her death and the family’s loss contribute to the emotional atmosphere and Asuka's fixation on the past.

👩‍👧‍👦 Family matriarch 💔 Grief 🏠 Domestic life

Takehiko Ninomiya (Shirô Namiki)

A member of the Ninomiya family whose role highlights how memories persist within the space and influence Asuka's sense of belonging. His presence anchors family history inside the apartment.

👨‍👦 Family connection 🕯️ Memory

Minoru Kinoshita

A boy who died 13 years earlier and haunts the complex. His spirit is not purely malicious; he seeks company and uses projections to pull the living into painful memories.

👦 Ghost 🤝 Memory proxy

Sanae Nonomura (Satomi Tezuka)

A psychic friend who helps reveal the truth behind the hauntings. She uncovers that Shinozaki's spirit is not hostile but needs help, and warns about the danger surrounding Asuka.

🔮 Psychic 🧭 Mentor 🕯️ Haunting aid

Shinobu Sasahara (Hiroki Narimiya)

A cleaner with supernatural experience who guides Asuka and attempts to exorcise the haunting. His knowledge comes with risk, and he is eventually lured into Minoru's trap, sacrificing himself.

🧹 Cleaner 🧿 Guide 🕯️ Exorcist

Hitomi Makimura (Megumi Sato)

Shinobu's vegetative girlfriend whose presence appears as a spectral projection. She embodies the danger of interacting with the dead and the consequences of delving into forgotten memories.

💬 Spectral projection 🫧 Memory danger

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 20:04

Major Themes – The Complex (2013)

Explore the central themes of The Complex (2013), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

⏳ Time Perception

The living move forward through time while the dead remain fixed at the moment of death, a concept suggested by the cleaner Shinobu. This creates a sense that memories stretch and distort as hauntings occur. Asuka's reality blurs with past events as she interacts with Minoru and Shinozaki, shaping her sense of danger. The narrative uses this temporal divide to explore how grief traps a person in a single moment.

💔 Grief

Asuka is haunted by the deaths of her family and the memory of her missing brother, fueling survivor's guilt and isolation. The disturbances become a manifestation of unresolved loss. Repeating routines and memories reinforce the weight of loss on Asuka's psyche. The story ties the haunting to her fragile emotional state, making healing feel precarious.

👻 Haunting

Shinozaki's ghost is not solely hostile; it seeks to thank Asuka for discovering him and warns her of danger. Minoru's spirit manipulates the living, projecting memories to pull Asuka deeper into the past. The exorcism attempt reveals the limits of cleansing when trauma lingers in the mind. The haunting blurs lines between memory, guilt, and supernatural agency.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 20:04

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Claustrophobic hauntings like in The Complex

Supernatural horror where the setting itself becomes a malevolent, inescapable prison.If you liked the oppressive atmosphere of The Complex, explore more movies where supernatural horror is rooted in a specific, inescapable location. These films feature hauntings tied to buildings that feel like prisons, amplifying anxiety and claustrophobia for a uniquely tense experience.

claustrophobichauntingoppressiveanxiousunsettlingtrappedmelancholicdread

Narrative Summary

The narrative typically revolves around characters who become trapped or feel compelled to stay in a haunted location, often to uncover a dark secret or due to personal connection. The story unfolds as the paranormal activity escalates, revealing the tragic history of the place and forcing a confrontation with the trapped spirits.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on location-based horror, where the setting is a primary antagonist. They create a specific mood of confinement and inescapable dread, blending supernatural scares with a strong, oppressive atmosphere.

Grief-stricken ghost stories like The Complex

Where supernatural encounters are intertwined with profound personal loss and mourning.For viewers who appreciated the heavy emotional weight and themes of loss in The Complex, this thread collects similar horror movies where ghosts and hauntings are metaphors for grief. These films blend genuine scares with a poignant exploration of sorrow and memory.

grievingmelancholicpsychologicalheavyunsettlingtragichauntingsorrowful

Narrative Summary

The plot revolves around a protagonist grappling with a significant loss, who then encounters supernatural phenomena that are intrinsically linked to their grief or a hidden trauma. The investigation into the haunting becomes a parallel journey of emotional unpacking, often leading to a bittersweet or tragic resolution where the horror cannot be easily defeated.

Why These Movies?

These films are grouped by their shared core theme: using the horror genre to explore the psychological and emotional devastation of grief. The supernatural serves as a vehicle for character development and thematic depth, resulting in a deeply affecting and heavy viewing experience.

Unlock the Full Story of The Complex

Don't stop at just watching — explore The Complex in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what The Complex is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

The Complex Summary

Read a complete plot summary of The Complex, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

The Complex Summary

The Complex Timeline

Track the full timeline of The Complex with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

The Complex Timeline

The Complex Spoiler-Free Summary

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The Complex Spoiler-Free Summary

More About The Complex

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about The Complex: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About The Complex