It was announced on July 4th that actress Anna Yamada will star in the film "NEW GROUP," which will be released in 2026.
The film focuses on group gymnastics, in which people climb on all fours, and is billed as "SF psycho-entertainment" that depicts the basis of human behavioral psychology in "group behavior" in a climate in which group gymnastics in "human pyramids" is promoted as "good." Director Yuta Shimozu, whose commercial film debut "Minna ni Happiness Are" (2024) was a smash hit, will take the helm, and will also be in charge of the original story and script.
The protagonist Ai, played by Yamada, is an ordinary, shy high school girl. One day, Yu, a girl who returned from overseas, transfers to the school and has trouble fitting in with the group activities at a Japanese school. The story unfolds around the emotions of the two girls in this situation.
The teaser poster, which was also released at the same time, shows Ai (Yamada) staring blankly at students in uniforms doing group gymnastics in the schoolyard. It's a spine-chilling visual, but it expresses the scene of more and more students joining and piling up day by day. The copy "Group action is a nice horror" is added to the bottom right of the poster.
Comments from Yamada and Director Shimozu are as follows:
◇ Anna Yamada(protagonist, Ai)
Attacking with group gymnastics? Pyramids? When I first read the script, I couldn't imagine it (laughs), but once filming started, I felt like I was gradually immersed in the world of the film.
It may be an opportunity to think about whether one's will is really one's own decision. It was a very stimulating experience! It's a new type of movie.
◇ Director Yuta Shimozu
This story is about "Ai" played by Anna Yamada and "Yu", a transfer student. In other words, this is our story, about me and you. The human pyramid is a symbol of Japanese society that has stopped thinking. I hope that we will wake up and unite.
