Unlocked

New Korean content on Netflix, Unlocked, is an interesting and thought provoking movie about being heavily consumed by smartphones these days. While this is not the first movie to tackle this subject, it did a good job in delivering a realistic wake up call about the dangers of social media without any sugarcoating.

The pacing was good and the story delivered an unexpected twist in the end. It was suspenseful, it was urgent, and it was generally well made. Si-wan as the antagonist was convincing, although I felt that the thrill could have been more given it's genre. If you're looking for a thrilling watch instead of a bubbly rom-com this February, Unlocked is one to turn your attention to.

My Rating : 7/10.

The concept of this film is derived from the fact that what if someone had unlimited use of your smartphone and how much damage he could do to your life.

The movie is about an elusive serial killer who has a habit of stealing the smartphone of his chosen victim and stalking them and finally terminating them.

The film shows digital crime in this modern digital era. The plot concerns a young and enterprising woman who has a great ambition to succeed in life. However when her smartphone is stolen and her identity manipulated by the thief, slowly her life turns into a living nightmare.

Thrown into the mix is a veteran cop who is desperately searching for his missing son. The lives of these two individuals will be slowly entwined into a dramatic climax.

Verdict: I've seen many good Korean films in my life: I Saw The Devil(2010) and The Man From Nowhere(2010) being prime examples of how good the Korean film industry is. This film is excellent from start to finish, you will never feel bored. However the movie is not meant for repeated viewing unlike the two movies I mentioned earlier. You'll watch this film once and never care to see it again.

This is a departure of the type of Korean films I usually watch (Rom-Coms), but decided to watch it solely because of the main lead Siwan as I had a curiosity to see him act in a total opposite role of what I have seen him do in the past (nice-guy roles). I just finished watching him in Summer Strike. He did not disappoint in this switch to a scary bad murderous guy. There is a little too much violence for me in the film, especially at the end and I was watching it before bed and turned it off to finish it in the morning as it was scary. Finished it the next day and the ending was different than I expected.

Even if this is a work of fiction, the things and the messages it sought to convey here show just a small portion of the terrifying reality we cannot afford to overlook!

This movie tries to educate us about that issue while presenting a relatable piece of narrative that could happen to anyone, which is the most frightening aspect of the film. In todays modern world of digital dependency, we prevalently underestimate the factor of anonymity and that could bring a slew of problems. One mistake can bring inconceivable repercussions.

Now, merely evaluating it from a cinematic point of view, it was just passable; neither great nor horrible! The first two acts are excellent because they happen to construct a tense, suspenseful buildup, but when the third act gets underway, everything falls apart. I'm not certain as to what exactly went wrong, but they were just not able to maintain the momentum or the true essence of the tale.

South-Korean cinema, still one of my favourites since awhile now. They just manage to release some really good movies, unlike their neighbouring countries that rarely bring us decent movies. No overacting with the South-Koreans which is quite rare with Asian actors. Writer/director Kim Tae-joon had the good idea making a crime/thriller about our usage of our smartphones, something a lot of people are just addicted to. You could not have made this movie a couple decades ago, as everybody would have seen it as a sci-fi but nowadays it looks pretty realistic. Certainly the youth that feel the need and urge to share their complete life with the rest of the world, until they will encounter an evil person like in this movie. Good acting, good storytelling with a bit of mystery, and good cinematography, definitely worth a watch.