Chime (film)

Matsuoka is a cooking teacher. While most students in his class are able to cook calmly and complete their tasks, one student, Tashiro, is distant from the rest, and struggles to complete his work. Tashiro asks Matsuoka if he can hear a 'chime', saying he believes it is a message for him. Matsuoka brushes him off, and Tashiro becomes briefly aggressive. As Matsuoka is leaving school, another student informs him that Tashiro asked for his address, which they refused to give out. Matsuoka goes on to attend an interview for a job at a restaurant, where he informs the interviewer he will quit his teaching job if hired. In the next lesson, Matsuoka speaks with Tashiro again, who tells him that a surgery has replaced half of his brain with a machine, controlling him on behalf of the chime. In attempting to prove this, he kills himself by cutting into his own neck with a knife. After a detective interviews those present, Matsuoka returns home and eats quietly with his family, not mentioning what has happened. Matsuoka shows another student, Akemi, how to butcher a chicken. After she refuses to follow his example, he abruptly and emotionlessly stabs her to death and then hides her body in a sleeping bag to bury her in the countryside. When he returns to school the following day, a student informs him the detective has returned, investigating Akemi's disappearance. A second student rushes downstairs, informing him that Akemi is upstairs waiting for him. Matsuoka and the student hurry upstairs, but they find only an empty chair where the student had seen Akemi. Something by the chair terrifies the student, and she runs out of the room. A couple of seconds later, Matsuoka sees the same, and he runs in terror. Outside, he encounters the detective, who notices a bandaid on Matsuoka's hand, which he attributes to a kitchen accident. Matsuoka attends a second interview at the restaurant, where he rants about himself; he is ultimately refused the job. As the interview ends, a customer at one table attempts to stab another patron and is restrained. At home, Matsuoka argues with his son after being asked for money, and he contemplates killing him. He walks around his house distraught. The intercom rings, but the camera shows only flickering lights. When it rings a second time, he goes outside, finding nobody at the door. Matsuoka walks around the street, before returning to his home. The film ends with him closing the door behind him. ==Cast==