Sometimes, following the crowd can lead somewhere you never expected. In NEW GROUP, an ordinary Japanese high school becomes the center of an increasingly disturbing phenomenon involving students, strange behavior, and an enormous human pyramid. Blending psychological horror, science fiction, and dark comedy, this unusual feature comes from writer and director Yuta Shimotsu and KADOKAWA.
The story follows Ai (Anna Yamada), a shy high school student dealing with problems at home and struggling to express herself. Her attention turns to Yu (Yuzu Aoki), a new transfer student who has returned from overseas and finds it difficult to adjust to the emphasis on cooperation and group activities at her Japanese school. Although Ai becomes interested in Yu, their differences create tension between them.
Things take an unsettling turn when a student suddenly drops to all fours in the schoolyard and refuses to move. Attempts by teachers and classmates to intervene prove unsuccessful. Soon, more students begin gathering beside the motionless individual, eventually forming a massive human pyramid.
Even stranger, the school begins encouraging students to participate, treating the bizarre formation as something positive. Those who join appear unusually calm and content, silently following along as the pyramid continues to grow. Ai also begins experiencing a strange sensation that threatens to draw her into the formation.
What starts as an isolated incident soon develops into a mysterious group phenomenon that spreads beyond the school and begins affecting the surrounding community.
NEW GROUP takes an unusual approach to Japanese horror by using group gymnastics and the human pyramid as the foundation for its unsettling premise. The film explores conformity, social pressure, and the psychological influence of collective behavior, questioning what happens when individuals stop thinking for themselves and simply follow the crowd.
The film stars Anna Yamada as Ai and Yuzu Aoki as Yu, with Pierre Taki playing the school’s principal. The supporting cast includes Ren Komai, Danhi Kinoshita, Arisa Sasaki, Kano Rogers, Jun Hosoi, Ryo Matsumoto, Tomochika Adachi, and Natsuko Sakakura. Filmmaker Takashi Shimizu, best known for directing the Ju-On franchise, also appears in the cast.
Behind the camera, Yuta Shimotsu serves as writer and director, with Momoko Sahara co-writing the screenplay. Shimotsu previously attracted attention with his feature-length debut, Best Wishes to All, which also explored disturbing themes through an unconventional Japanese horror premise. His work on that film earned recognition at international genre festivals, making NEW GROUP his second feature-length directorial effort.
The film also features the theme song “new world” by Sakura Fujiwara, adding another creative element to this unusual horror production.
Running 82 minutes, NEW GROUP combines horror, science fiction, and psychological satire into a story that takes an everyday school activity and transforms it into something deeply unsettling. Rather than relying on familiar horror conventions, the film builds its tension around the frightening possibility of losing one’s individuality to the collective.
NEW GROUP premiered in Japanese theaters on June 12, 2026, with KADOKAWA handling distribution. A U.S. theatrical release date looks to be Nov 06, 2026.