Every now and then, someone makes a movie with an idea so genius, you wonder why it wasn’t used before. The upcoming Netflix Japanese fantasy film Once Upon a Crime is such a case as it answers a simple question: What if classic fairy tale characters had to solve a murder mystery?
Based on the book Little Red Riding Hood Meets a Corpse on Her Journey by Aito Aoyaga, this wild fantasy film is directed by Yuichi Fukuda. It plays like a crossover of fairy tales as Little Red Riding Hood is on her trek to her grandmother’s when she runs into Cinderella. Enter the Fairy Godmother giving Cinderella her glass slippers and gown and Red accompanies her to the ball.
Here’s where the twist comes in as a murder occurs at the ball and everyone, including Cinderella, the Prince, and even the King, are suspects. Red turns into a sleuth to figure out what really happened.
"Once Upon a Crime follows the story of Little Red Riding Hood who takes on the role of a detective to solve the intriguing case of “Cinderella.”The plot is both daring and imaginative, with Red Riding Hood as the intrepid protagonist on a mission to uncover the culprit of a crime set in the enchanting world of a beloved fairy tale."
Who stars in Once Upon a Crime?
The cast is filled with some notable Japanese actors, with Kanna Hashimoto as Red Riding Hood while Yuko Araki is Cinderella. Takanori Iwata is the Prince with a good cast mixing up these fairy tale characters.
- Kanna Hashimoto as Little Red Riding Hood
- Yuko Araki as Cinderella
- Takanori Iwata as The Prince
- Natsuna
- Yumi Wakatsuki
- Mirei Kiritani
- Tsuyoshi Muro
- Masaki Kaji
- Tomoharu Hasegawa
- Atsuhiro Inukai
- Mizuki Yamamoto
- Midoriko Kimura
- Miki Maya
- Jiro Sato
When does Once Upon a Crime premiere?
The movie is set to be released on Thursday, Sept. 14 on Netflix. It will be in Japanese with English subtitles and between its inventive mix of fairy tale and mystery, this may be a surprisingly delightful new film for Netflix and mystery viewers.
Once Upon a Crime premieres on Netflix on Thursday, Sept. 14.