Running Time: 83 Minutes
Starring: Kotona Minami, Terunosuke Takezai, Tetta Seki, Shunsuke Tanaka, Takeo Gozu, Atsuko Sakurai
There is something eerie to being in a store at a late hour, where the usual hustle and bustle of people searching for their desired items is replaced with empty aisles and deafening silence. This idea was captured in the acclaimed video game by Chilla's Art, which screenwriter Yoshimasa Akamatsu and director Jirô Nagae have adapted into The Convenience Store. The tone is established from early on as the film delivers images of bloody murder, leaving people brutally mauled with their eyes hollowed out, with the victims including a young boy.
Viewers are introduced to college student Yukino Tazuru (Kotona Minami) through her first-person perspective, as she leaves her apartment and walks to work in the dark while using a flashlight. She arrives at the convenience store to run the night shift alone, taking over from the co-worker who complains about their manager disappearing. Across four consecutive nights, Tazuru must handle customers and perform menial tasks, while grappling with strange things happening around the store.
Each night depicted begins in an interesting way, as viewers are eased in through the perspective of Tazuru. One wishes that this first-person perspective could have been utilised a bit more, allowing viewers to step into the protagonist's shoes during the creepy occurrences, yet it is understandable that Nagae did not wish to overuse this idea. It would be a struggle to sustain this gimmick for a feature runtime, leaving one to wish that more of a balance could have been found.
As it stands, attempts at unnerving audiences arrive across the nights. The best tries involve everyday moments being made to feel unnatural, such as the entrance door repeatedly opening and closing despite nobody being there. There is clear promise, yet it rarely feels fulfilled when the fallback is often lacking jump scares. The strongest example of this is a moment of quiet terror, which becomes undermined by how it turns out to be a dream. Despite the clear attempts, this is a film whose output is never truly unsettling.
That does not stop the film from indulging in genre cliches while offering its own twist, such as an old man offering warnings in exchange for food, or horrific visuals being uncovered on delivered SD cards. It is all in service of a story that feels like two different film ideas stitched together, with the second half following a detective investigating this strange case, leaving the admittedly short runtime to feel dragged out. The most unfortunate thing is how dull this tale ultimately is, leaving The Convenience Store to feel anything but convenient.
The Convenience Store made its International Premiere at FrightFest Glasgow 2026
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