Spoilers didn’t ask for a bag.

I’ve always felt that in horror comedies, you end up sacrificing one genre for the other. Usually the horror must give way to the comedy. However, when your intent is not to amuse but to make a satire, you can go bleak. I think this is actually harder to do than it appears. And somehow this feature does pull it off without ever letting its audience breathe.

AnyMart (2026) is written and directed by Yusuke Iwasaki. Sakai (Shota Sometani) is a typical employee from a Japanese kombini (convenience store). It’s a job that has left him unfocused and dehumanized, in no small part due to the harsh treatment by the store owner and the overzealous enthusiasm of his manager. All around him we can see people losing the will to continue, with some of them ready to snap. A new employee, Ogawa (Erika Karata) appears trying to inject some humanity into the store and manages to inspire Sakai. However, the dark and bleak environment surrounding them looms with signs of despair… and violence.

Works brilliantly but in the most sinisters of outcomes. I’d rather not disclose anything further, but this is dark humour at its most grim. This feature works as a satire of life, work and disconnected corporate culture. Reality at its most dystopian is shown as inescapable and dull. Once horror kicks in, there is no telling how high the body count is going to be.

Highly recommended for audiences acquainted with dark humour. Casual audiences that still have a spark of hope might want to reconsider. Worth a watch.

That will do for now.