Masquerade Hotel film review: Takuya Kimura, Masami Nagasawa in glossy whodunnit based on Keigo Higashino novel

3/5 stars

A team of homicide detectives go undercover at a top Tokyo hotel to catch a serial killer in Masayuki Suzuki’s crowd-pleasing adaptation of Keigo Higashino’s bestselling novel.

Anchoring this glossy, Agatha Christie-esque whodunnit is a playful will-they-won’t-they romance between Takuya Kimura’s unkempt police officer and Masami Nagasawa, who plays the disciplined front-desk employee tasked with schooling him in five-star customer service.

Surrounding the superstar leads is a stellar ensemble of staff, guests and police – all potential suspects – who keep audiences engaged even after the central mystery begins to unravel.

A trio of murders have the Tokyo police department scratching their heads. The victims were killed in different neighbourhoods and in different ways, with nothing connecting them except for a cryptic message left at each scene.

But on discovering that each code reveals the location of the subsequent murder, they arrive at the elegant Hotel Cortesia Tokyo. The hotel offers its full cooperation, allowing a number of police to go undercover as staff members and guests, but the manager (Ryo Ishibashi) insists that they learn the ropes, so as not to jeopardise the reputation of his high-end establishment.

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Dishevelled detective Nitta (Kimura) is positioned on the front desk, due to his apparent strong English skills, which immediately ruffles the feathers of dedicated concierge Yamagishi (Nagasawa).

However, after a shave and a haircut, and some swift lessons in appropriate behaviour, stance and general etiquette, Nitta is put in place, where he can scrutinise every customer – or rather “guest”, as Yamagishi repeatedly corrects him – as they come and go. Inevitably, Nitta’s efforts uncover a series of unconnected deceptions, scandals and red herrings.

Yamagishi and Nitta have wildly differing attitudes towards the general public, regularly clashing over how to treat potential suspects. It is a hotelier’s duty to accept the customer at face value, respect the version of themselves they present and never question or refuse their demands. After all, the guest makes the rules, so can never break them.

Conversely, Nitta has been trained to be suspicious of everyone, to see past the masks they wear, identify their lies and get to the truth at whatever cost.

The mystery itself, sadly, is utter nonsense. The intended victim is easy enough to predict, but as the killer’s plan is laid bare, and their identity eventually revealed, it all becomes laughably preposterous. Still, even if the final unmasking proves somewhat unsatisfactory, the stay at Masquerade Hotel is undeniably an entertaining one.

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