Mis 84 m²

"Wall to Wall" (2025), co-directed by Kim Tae-joon and Sharon S. Park, is a South Korean psychological thriller that transforms the relatable frustrations of apartment living into a gripping and often anxiety-inducing experience. It follows a man whose dream of homeownership turns into a nightmare of mysterious noises, financial strain, and escalating neighborly conflict. The film excels in its initial build-up of tension and its sharp social commentary on modern urban pressures and economic inequality. While some critics note that the plot can become a bit overstuffed in its later acts, the compelling performances and claustrophobic atmosphere make it a memorable watch.

Is it worth watching? If you're a fan of intense psychological thrillers, especially those with a strong social commentary and a willingness to explore uncomfortable realities, "Wall to Wall" is definitely worth your time.

This could only be summed up as "INTERESTING IDEAS .. the movie." I believe there are quite a few small wins here in terms of thematic setup, but the payoffs are never as interesting. It starts with a tense thriller premise (that revolves around noise pollution), before diving into a bitcoin subplot and a larger real-estate conspiracy at play. No complaints concerning the performances -- Kang Ha-neul, Seo Hyun-woo, and Yeom Hye-ran deliver quite solidly. Writer-director Kim Tae-joon shows inventiveness in the staging, at least in the initial portions, before running out of steam in the final act, where it turns into a familiar, bloody showdown. Wall to Wall also suffers from the same issue as Tae-joon's earlier flick Unlocked, where the length of the film (1h 58m) lessened its conclusive impact. The nightmarish thriller part of the film ranks way above the rest, and most of that's restricted to the first hour.

Not going to lie, this movie had me stressed out more than once. It is well shot, with great visuals and colors that create a tense atmosphere. Some parts do feel a bit long, but the editing keeps the pace dynamic overall. I'd say it's a solid, chaotic movie that made me feel just as lost as the main character, with plenty of plot twists. It's definitely disturbing, and just when you think it can't get any crazier, it does. Sadly, the end is a bit disapointing because the last 30 - 40 minutes of the movie are too messy and less catchy. So i would say it is an okay movie overall, you should watch it without expecting a masterpiece.

Woo-sung's life goal is to own an apartment Seoul at an overpriced rate as he firmly believes, having one's own apartment is what all he needs to lead an happy life. The overpriced apartment he bought, comes with noisy upstairs neighbours while the ones below believe it's Woo-sung who is noisy. Years later, Woo-sung is in debt, only has the noisy apartment and is lured by his colleague into a scheme where he invests everything for unbelievable 800% ROI which he needs to sell it off on Liberation Day. With the noise getting him sleepless, will he be able to prove to his neighbours that he is not culprit and mainly, will he succeed in his plan amidst all challenges, forms rest of the story.

The film which is an attempt at stark commentary on the capitalism, has the story focus on Woo-sung's two woes - the unending noise which paints him as the noisy neighbour to almost and his financial mess that forces him to come up with the theory of real estate scam. While the whole segment of him having the invest in a scheme which is basically all his money so that he can sell it on the said time without wasting a second, was completely intriguing given the circumstances. It only made up for half of the film and the remaining went back to the noise problem.

The whole reveal on the real culprit and the whole conspiracy theory was sprung at the viewers rather less convincingly. It is essentially when the story makes way for other characters while up until then it remained a one man show with Woo-sung's predicament, getting stuck on that apartment and having to lose everything - financially and mentally. I wish the drama with the neighbours was prolonged along with the whole Liberation Day segment instead of ending it half way. Overall, the idea is decent enough to command a one time watch but the film could have been executed better in the last hour with a better arc for the antagonist.

As "Wall to Wall" (2025 release from South Korea; 118 min.; original title "84 m2") opens, we are in "Seoul 2021" and as we watch Seoul's endless sea of skyscrapers, Noh Woo-sung purchases a small condo measuring 84 square meters (900 sqaure feet). We the go to "Seoul, August 2024" and Woo-sung struggles to keep up with his mortgage, maintenance fees and other expenses. On top of that, he notices strange noises coming from his neighbor below. Or is it his neighbor upstairs? At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: houses, condos and apartments in Asia are typically a lot smaller than what we are used to in the West, and certainly in the US, where there is never-ending space everywhere except a few major cities like New York and Chicago. This South Korean movie starts out as your typical drama: how to deal with noise pollution presumably coming from your neighbors. But the movie morphs into something quite different in its second hour. This movie is super plot-heavy so the less about that, the better and I won't spoil any of it. I quite enjoyed the second half of the movie, more so than the first half. The non-names cast (for me anyway) does quite well. And of course Seoul, itself a character in the movie, is an amazing place.

"Wall to Wall" started streaming in Netflix about a week ago. I happen to read a positive review of it in the British weekly The Economist, and that was good enough for me to check it out. The movie is currently rated 62% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and that sounds about right to me. If you are in the mood for a foreign drama/thriller about life in a small condo set in a skyscraper, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.