I have seen the cover for this 2000 Japanese mystery movie a couple of times since 2000, but I actually never gotten around to watching the movie before now, late in 2022. And honestly, I don't know why, especially since I've always found the cover for this movie to be interesting.

Writers Hiroshi Hatajima, Mugita Kinoshita, Atsushi Kuwahara and Toshiyuki Mizutani managed to deliver something odd here. Sure, "Isola: Tajuu Jinkaku Shôjo" (aka "Isola: Multiple Personality Girl"), was a watchable movie. But the storyline here is one where you really have to pay attention and be very focused. I have to admit that I really didn't fully understand the storyline told here, so the movie was only mildly entertaining for me. But still, I managed to sit through all 94 minutes of the movie.

The acting performances in the movie were good. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble here, but they had some talented actors and actresses on the cast list, that's for sure.

Visually then this movie is not one that makes use of a whole lot of special effects. And honestly, the movie didn't really need to, because it did quite well with the simple approach.

As I now have seen "Isola: Tajuu Jinkaku Shôjo", I must admit that I am sitting here with a sensation of not having missed out on a grand cinematic moment in Japanese cinema history. Yeah, it was watchable, but the storyline just didn't latch unto me.

My rating of director Toshiyuki Mizutani's 2000 mystery lands on a four out of ten stars. This is not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time though.

[Potential spoilers ahead] First, I want to make it clear that I saw this movie in Japanese with English subtitles, which (by the way) seemed to be well done, as far as I can tell without understanding Japanese. I'm surprised its IMDB rating is so low - dislike of subtitles, perhaps? - below some genuinely depressing flicks. I enjoyed it, with the sole exception of a brief bit of visual effects near the end that's both cheesy and unneeded. The plot is plausible, especially for its genre, the characters are well-realized and it's nicely shot and edited, with a score that gently enhances - almost no cheating by beating you up with music and sound effects, all too commonly done. [Here are the Spoilers] The idea that someone's "soul" can be set adrift during an out-of-body-experience by the death of her body, and that the "soul" can then find a home within a person with multiple personalities (always room for one more?) is less incredible than the central ideas of many popular movies. The mind-reading ability of the main character is presented in a believable fashion, with attention paid to its effects on her.