The Complex (2013) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Shinozaki was not trying to attack Asuka. According to Shinobu and Sanae's investigation, his spirit wanted to express gratitude for being discovered after his death and to warn her that she was in danger from Minoru's presence in the building.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Asuka hears scratching noises and an alarm clock coming from Shinozaki's flat, suggesting his spirit was actively trying to reach her.

• shinozaki
• apartment
• scratching
• death
• warning

Asuka's entire family - her father Isao, mother Sachiko, and brother Satoshi - died years before the events of the film. The 'family' she believed she was living with were actually foster parents. Asuka had been unconsciously repressing this trauma, which is why the haunting felt so personally connected to her guilt.

Foreshadowing: The family seems stuck in a daily loop, repeating the same actions and conversations, hinting that they are memories rather than living people.

• family
• death
• asuka
• foster parents
• trauma

Minoru is revealed to be the ghost of a boy who died 13 years ago. He hid inside a garbage incinerator during a game of hide-and-seek and was accidentally burned alive. His lingering spirit remains in the building, reaching out to Asuka because she reminds him of the playmates he lost.

Foreshadowing: Minoru is described as staying hidden from adults and seems unusually connected to the building's secrets from the beginning.

• minoru
• ghost
• incinerator
• death
• child

During the exorcism attempt, Minoru projects an image of Shinobu's vegetative girlfriend Hitomi Makimura, tricking Shinobu into opening himself to Minoru's influence. Shinobu is then pulled into the memory of the garbage incinerator where Minoru died, and he is burned alive. His sacrifice was intended to save Asuka.

Foreshadowing: Minoru's death occurred in the garbage incinerator, and he uses this location as a trap for those who try to help Asuka.

• shinobu
• death
• incinerator
• sacrifice
• burned

After Shinobu's death and her bargain with Minoru to become his playmate, Asuka is found scratching and screaming at her apartment floor. Her foster parents take her back, but she remains in a distressed state, constantly talking about her dead parents and brother while clutching her brother's doll. The haunting persists within her mind.

Foreshadowing: Asuka's attachment to Minoru grows throughout the film as she uses him as a surrogate for her dead brother.

• asuka
• ending
• possession
• breakdown
• doll

Shinobu explains that time works differently for the living and the dead. The living move forward through time, while the dead remain trapped in the moment of their death, endlessly repeating it. This explains why Shinozaki keeps scratching at the wall - he is frozen in his final desperate attempt to escape.

Foreshadowing: Strange repetitive sounds like the alarm clock and the family's looping behavior hint at this time-displacement concept.

• time
• dead
• loop
• haunting
• spirit

Shinozaki's spirit warned Asuka that she was in danger because Minoru's ghost was targeting her psychologically. Minoru, starved of companionship for 13 years, was forming an intense attachment to Asuka, gradually drawing her into his world and causing her to lose touch with reality. The danger was mental possession rather than physical harm.

Foreshadowing: Asuka begins to withdraw from reality and becomes increasingly fixated on Minoru as a replacement for her dead brother.

• danger
• minoru
• possession
• attachment
• psychological

Asuka projects her grief for her dead younger brother Satoshi onto Minoru. Since her family's deaths were traumatic and repressed, Minoru becomes a surrogate brother figure, filling the emotional void. This attachment blurs the line between mourning and obsession, making her vulnerable to Minoru's haunting.

Foreshadowing: Asuka's initial friendship with Minoru begins shortly after moving in, coinciding with her discovery of the building's tragedies.

• asuka
• minoru
• attachment
• grief
• brother

No, Shinozaki's spirit is not malevolent. Sanae discovers that he simply wanted to thank Asuka for discovering his body after three days and to warn her about the danger from Minoru. Unlike Minoru, who is trapped in desperate loneliness, Shinozaki's intentions are protective toward Asuka.

Foreshadowing: Initially, Asuka senses resentment from Shinozaki, but this is later revealed to be her own guilt projected onto the spirit.

• shinozaki
• ghost
• spirit
• protection
• good

When Minoru's trap leads to Shinobu's death, Asuka desperately agrees to become Minoru's permanent playmate in exchange for Shinobu's life. This bargain allows Shinobu to survive (temporarily) but binds Asuka to Minoru's haunting. She accepts this to save the only person still helping her.

Foreshadowing: Minoru's loneliness and desire for companionship have been building throughout the film.

• bargain
• deal
• minoru
• playmate
• sacrifice