The Crimes That Bind is a skillful movie adaptation of author Keigo Higashino's most recent Detective Kaga novel [Review]
Fairly satisfying central mystery makes up for some underdeveloped side plot strands
Detective Kyoichiro Kaga and theatre director Hiromi Asai face off over a mysterious murder case.The Crimes That Bind, opens with Detective Yuhei Matsumiya being called to a crime scene where a woman has been strangled to death, left to decompose for over 20 days.
Around the same time, the man who lived in the apartment in which the woman was found disappears; the detective cannot find any connection between him and the strangled woman.
Enter Kyoichiro Kaga, the detective assigned to Tokyo’s Nihonbashi area. Though he isn’t directly involved with the case, he discovers a link between the woman’s murder and the death of his mother several years back.
Based on a book by Japanese mystery writer Keigo Higashino, the story itself, like all great mysteries, is an intricate puzzle box.
By the end, it is easy to marvel at how skillfully disguised the solution is. That being said, regular readers of Higashino’s books will find the plot less tricky than his other works.
The one complaint that may be had against the movie is that some aspects of the story may have be neglected; some parts of the movie felt flabbier and more inert than others, while several plot strands felt underdeveloped. Viewers may leave the cinema wondering what happened to certain characters.
However, The Crimes that Bind is sure to scratch an itch for mystery lovers, while providing a chance for people to be introduced to the work of Keigo Higashino.
Edited by Nicole Moraleda