Transcending Dimensions

Toshiaki Toyoda is a filmmaker who has long refused to be easily categorized. With Transcending Dimensions, he proves once again that his cinema is nourished by the encounter between the spiritual, the philosophical, and the political. Known for his raw and uncompromising portraits of Japanese society, Toshiaki Toyoda's films carry the weight of his troubled past, marked by his arrest for marijuana possession in 2005 and then for possession of an antique firearm in 2019. These experiences of alienation and exclusion have sharpened his cinematic voice, giving rise to works that not only meditate on spirituality, death, and resurrection, but also critique the structures of control that permeate contemporary life. Transcending Dimensions, unveiled at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival, is the latest installment in his informal “Resurrection” cycle and could be considered his most complete and daring expression to date.

The narrative of Transcending Dimensions is less a linear progression than a labyrinth of intertwined fragments, where characters oscillate between worlds that are both physical and metaphysical. At the heart of the plot is Master Hanzo, played with enigmatic charisma by Chihara Junia (Chihara Jr.), a spiritual leader who wields immense influence over his followers. Hanzo is both a prophet and a manipulator, a man who urges his disciples to cut off their fingers in order to transcend their condition, while mocking their weakness. His presence is unsettling, embodying the dangerous overlap between faith and science, devotion and exploitation. When the assassin Shinno, played with quiet intensity by Ryûhei Matsuda, is drawn into Hanzo's orbit by Nonoka, played by Haruka Imô, he finds himself less skeptical than he is willing to admit. Shinno's mission is to kill Hanzo and find Rosuke, played by Yôsuke Kubozuka, but the boundaries between victim and savior, illusion and reality blur until all certainties collapse.

The beginning of the film is emblematic of its philosophical undertones: Rosuke, bearded, sits cross-legged in a cave, his reflection inverted in a pool of water. This image directly evokes Plato's allegory of the cave, where shadows obscure reality and only those who escape the cave can glimpse the truth. But in Toshiaki Toyoda's interpretation, escape is not so simple: truth itself is unstable, changing with each perspective. From there, the audience is plunged into a cinematic universe where time and space lose all coherence, where a ritual can turn into a surreal scientific experiment, and where a seashell can transmit signals across the cosmos to a man who is both in a coma and in a spaceship. The viewer is invited not to decode a single narrative, but to rewrite their own, in line with Hanzo's statement that “the world is made of stories.” This motif is essential to understanding the film: identity, history, even faith itself are presented as shifting narratives that we tell ourselves in order to survive.

Visually, Transcending Dimensions is simply mesmerizing. Cinematographer Kanji Maki creates images that seem to obey the same surreal laws that govern the film's universe. His camera glides with unexpected fluidity, producing kaleidoscopic compositions that blur the boundaries between the sacred and the profane, the beautiful and the terrifying. A sequence featuring Haruka Imô and a train stands out as a haunting, almost hallucinatory scene, merging the real and the unreal into a single breathless moment. These images are amplified by Masaki Murakami's editing, which maintains a deliberate pace, allowing the film to breathe while delivering shocks and moments of wonder. The sound design reinforces the immersion: every psychic battle, every whispered ritual is accompanied by a soundscape as vivid and menacing as the images. From the ethereal tones that accompany Rosuke's meditation in the cave to the jazzy energy of Sons of Kemet that punctuates the following scenes, the soundtrack transforms the film into a truly synesthetic experience.

What makes Transcending Dimensions so remarkable is its refusal to talk down to its audience. While many films that dabble in surrealism risk collapsing under the weight of their pretension, Toshiaki Toyoda ensures accessibility through a heady balance of mystery, tension, and action. The film may at times seem cryptic or fragmented, but it is never impenetrable. Its meditative qualities are counterbalanced by genuine moments of suspense and danger, from Hanzo's sadistic rituals to the reluctant awakening of Shinno's supernatural powers. The psychic duels are less spectacular explosions than carefully controlled atmospheric exercises, which intensify the film's mystical aura rather than diluting it with excess. This control makes Transcending Dimensions not just an experimental curiosity, but also a accomplished cinematic experience.

The film is a reflection of Toshiaki Toyoda himself. Master Hanzo embodies both the liberator and the oppressor, the prophet who preaches freedom while enslaving his followers to his rhetoric. Through him, Toshiaki Toyoda critiques Japanese society's stifling emphasis on conformity and harmony, exposing the violence that lurks beneath the surface of collective order. Hanzo's assertion that those who aspire to harmony abandon their souls is directed not only at the characters on screen, but also at broader social structures, where individuality is often sacrificed in the name of social cohesion. This duality makes Hanzo fascinating: he is both hypocritical and truthful, a mirror of the contradictions inherent in all ideology. The mutilated fingers of his disciples become grotesque metaphors for the price of submission, symbols of how narratives, whether religious, political, or scientific, can reshape the body and mind.

Yet despite all its philosophy and social criticism, Transcending Dimensions is also deeply personal. It is impossible to ignore the way Toshiaki Toyoda's conflicts with authority and his sense of betrayal by the social Other shine through in every frame. The Resurrection cycle, of which this film is the culmination, is marked by themes of death, rebirth, and spiritual reinvention. Here more than ever, Toshiaki Toyoda invites the audience to experience this rebirth with him. The film's deliberately fragmented and confusing ending leaves viewers with no resolution other than the one they construct for themselves. In this way, the viewer becomes an integral part of the film experience, compelled to “rewrite their own story,” just as Hanzo commands his disciples to do. This self-reflexive gesture transforms Transcending Dimensions from a film into an experience, a journey that does not end with the credits, but persists, demanding reflection and reinterpretation.

Transcending Dimensions is not easy to digest, nor does it seek to be. It is a work full of contradictions: a spiritual film that is not afraid of violence, a philosophical essay disguised as a cult thriller, a deeply Japanese story that resonates universally. It may recall the ritualistic tableaux of Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain, the spectral battles of Gakuryû Ishii's Gojoe, or the ghostly transmissions of Olivier Assayas' Personal Shopper, but it remains unmistakably the work of Toshiaki Toyoda, a director who endured exile and returned with visions more radical and uncompromising than ever. His mastery lies not only in his ability to create unforgettable images and sounds, but also in his way of provoking the audience to confront uncomfortable truths about faith, science, and the narratives that define our existence. Ultimately, Transcending Dimensions is not so much about escaping to another plane as it is about realizing that every dimension, every reality, reflects the same stubborn human flaws—and that transcendence begins within ourselves.

Transcending Dimensions
Written and directed by Toshiaki Toyoda
Produced by Shinichiro Muraoka, Ryô Yukizane
Starring Chihara Jr., Masahiro Higashide, Haruka Imô, Yôsuke Kubozuka, Ryûhei Matsuda, Kiyohiko Shibukawa
Cinematography: Kenji Maki
Edited by Masaki Murakami
Production companies: Toyoda Films
Distributed by Third Window Films (UK)
Release dates: TBD
Running time: 96 minutes

Seen on August 15, 2025 (Frightfest press screener)

Mulder's Mark: