Yuichi Arisu subsists in a dull job in Tokyo and an apparently sexless marriage by reading the mystery novels of Jo Kuroda, a writer who has conjured up a strange alternative universe called Darkland. Taunted by a man dressed as a rabbit that distributes flyers for Kuroda's latest novel, and haunted by the novelist himself, Arisu explores the memory of an affair at the eponymous hotel and traces his wife's disappearance to a high-class brothel. Gradually the walls between fantasy and reality break down and Arisu comes under the spell of the Darkland. Starfish Hotel blends American detective fiction and the Japanese supernatural tale to create an original Gothic mystery. The film borrows its visual style, themes and mood from classic Japanese fantastic films. It is filled with visual references to the Japanese mystery genre and pays homage to Japanese mystery writers.