Starring: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaake Okura

A head-spinning thriller colored with shades of Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch, Perfect Blue chronicles the downfall of a popular singer, Mima Kirigoe, whose carefully controlled life and image unravels after she abandons her singing career to take on a small role in a sleazy crime drama. As she tries to cope with a disappointed fanbase, Mima begins receiving threatening messages and discovers a popular blog written in her name that chronicles every detail of her life. Shaken by her stalker and objectified by sleazeball industry types, Mima starts hallucinating and loses track of reality, which proves problematic when her co-workers start turning up dead.|

A film festival favorite on its release, Perfect Blue kicked off Kon’s influential career as a director, who went on to helm several reality bending features like Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers before dying of cancer in 2010. Perfect Blue in particular proved to be a such an influence on Darren Aronofsky’s work that the director bought the rights to the film and lifted scenes wholesale for both Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan.