Shutter (2008 film)

Ben Shaw and his new wife Jane leave New York for Tokyo, Japan, where Ben has a job as a photographer. While traveling, Jane hits a girl in the middle of the wilderness. Later they start to find mysterious lights in their photos. Ben begins to complain of severe shoulder pain, and his friends begin to comment he's looking bent and hunched over, though the doctor he goes to see can find no cause. Ben's assistant takes them to her ex-boyfriend, who says that the lights are spirits, manifestations of intense emotions. They then go to a psychic, Murasame, who Ben soon claims is a hack and refuses to translate what he says.

Jane decides to visit the office building in the photo. She goes to the floor where the light has gathered in the empty office and takes photos. She encounters the girl's spirit, learns her name is Megumi and that Ben knew her. When Jane confronts Ben, he admits that he and Megumi were once in a relationship but when her father died she became very obsessive and clingy. He eventually dumped her with help from his two friends. Jane is upset with Ben and decides they need to find Megumi.

They go to Megumi's home and find her decayed body; she had committed suicide with potassium cyanide. Elsewhere, Ben's friends Adam and Bruno are killed by Megumi. Adam's eye is torn out while shooting pictures and he dies from shock; Bruno commits suicide by jumping from his apartment. Finally, Ben is attacked by the ghost of Megumi who attempts to choke him. After nearly throwing Jane through a nearby window, Megumi stops, leaving Ben alive.

After Megumi's funeral, Ben and Jane return to New York. Jane finds some recent photos in an envelope which still show Megumi. She finds other photos, taken by Ben, Adam, and Bruno forcing themselves on Megumi. Ben tries to explain he felt it was the only way to drive Megumi away, as nothing else was working. This was the reason Ben didn't want to translate what the psychic said earlier. Disgusted by Ben's past actions and realizing that Megumi was trying to warn her, Jane leaves him saying she will not spend the rest of her life with him.

Angered, Ben begins photographing the apartment looking for Megumi. After throwing the camera across the room, it takes a picture of him, showing Megumi sitting astride on his shoulders. The movie pans back to the hospital where a nurse is weighing Ben, showing 275 pounds, the weight of two people. In an effort to rid himself of her, he electrocutes himself. He is rendered completely catatonic and sent to a mental institution. The last scene is a reflection of the glass from the door, showing Megumi still latched to his back.

Shutter was released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 15, 2008. The Unrated Edition runs 5 minutes longer and includes commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and an alternate ending.

• List of ghost films

• Shutter at IMDb
• Shutter at AllMovie
• Shutter at Box Office Mojo
• Shutter at Rotten Tomatoes
• Shutter at Metacritic