Go Find A Psychic!Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro

Starring: Masami Nagasawa, Hideto Iwai, Junya Kawashima,

Haruki Nakagawa, Osamu Tsuji, Hiroki Miyake

Scheduled release: 13 May

At some point in our lives we must all have wondered what it wouldbe like to suddenly develop extraordinary powers or, watchingsomeone bend spoons using ESP, tried to do the same ourselves. Orperhaps tried to call upon predictive powers to buy some luckylottery numbers. Of course most of us are unsuccessful, otherwisewe’d already be looking at a major leap in our evolution.

Go Find a Psychic! is essentially the story of one such believer inESP, psychics and the like who, witnessing a meteor fall into theocean as a child, developed a curiosity about things unexplained,from UFOs to the ability to bend spoons. Masami Nagasawa is Yone

Sakurai, a girl working at a television station whose programme AreYou a Psychic? has so far garnered no success in finding realpsychics to demonstrate their powers, but instead, attracts plenty ofbogus crystal gazers out for their five minutes of fame. Desperate,she is sent on a personal crusade to find the real deal.

Based on a stage play, the film is predominantly set inside a KagawaPrefecture café the owner has called Café Telekinesis in an effort togather psychics to a common ground where they can meet,exchange notes and basically let their powers loose away fromprying eyes. Before long we’re introduced to the characters withpsychic abilities, such as Ide (Junya Kawashima) who can controlelectronics, Kawaoka (Masashi Suwa) who manipulates matter (to acertain degree), Kakei (Haruki Nakagawa) with X-ray eyes, Shiina(Osamu Tsuji) who is touch telepathic and Koyama (Hiroki Miyake)who has the ability to stop time.

They may not be very powerful abilities, but this group brings on thelaughter with their earnest ways and down-to-earth characters. Theyreligiously follow a code of conduct that forbids them to use theirpowers before non-psychics, lest they be treated as subjects for atest lab. When would-be TV sensation Kanda (Hideto Iwai) makes adate to meet Yone at Café Kinesis to audition for her show butinstead gatecrashes a psychic party and is mistaken for a newpsychic recruit. He is in awe at what he witnesses but when thegroup discovers he has no powers, they have to come up with aplan to thwart his and Yone’s intention to expose them.

A subplot proves useful when it throws the group into a dilemmaabout using their abilities to save a life without compromising theirsecrecy. As the film progresses it becomes more touching as it dealswith the ridicule of personal beliefs and the last act will no doubtbring a tear or two. Katsuyuki Motohiro’s delightful comedy worksbecause of the excellent chemistry between the cast. Stefan S.

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