Hikikomori

Synopsis

Hikikomori is told as two stories, that play out alongside one another.

Jared’s story is first.

Jared is a Hikikomori (Japanese meaning 'pulled away') and lives in self-confinement, ever since Sarah died. Two and a half years later every night is the same and his only companion is his ever-changeable imaginary girlfriend.

When Sarah begins to appear in his apartment, Jared believes he is being haunted for his wrong deeds. Reality becomes a cracked mirror; part hallucination, part the haunting of Sarah's angry ghost.

Jared resolves to murdering the ghost of Sarah, but it is he who is stabbed and he dies, finally admitting the immense guilt he feels over the events that led to Sarah's death.

Melissa’s story is next.

Melissa suffers from Disassociate Identity Disorder as well as severe Insomnia. After her father's suicide, Melissa took solace in imaginary friends. Now as an adult, she has moved into Jared's apartment.

When the city breeds apathy, she decides to stop taking her medication and allow the imaginary friends back into her life. Jared appears, playing out his own story. Melissa is both his imaginary girlfriend and the ghost of Sarah in Jared's world. In her world, she is in love.

When Jared hunts Melissa down with murder in mind, she survives by stabbing Jared herself. Reality is torn apart and Melissa melts into a dark destruction before taking her own life. She too is released from her guilt, in the most freeing way.