Unlocked

A young woman's phone is hacked with destructive consequences. Such as for many young adults, the most important aspects of her social, business, and private life are inseparable from her cell phone.

After someone returns her lost phone, she takes it to a cell phone shop for a broken screen repair and makes a big mistake of writing her password on a piece of paper when the shop owner requests it. Obviously, you don't need to give your password to get your screen replaced. Even if it is required, you should only unlock your phone without giving away your password. And never take your phone to an unauthorized dealer.

The shop owner jail-breaks the phone and side-loads the spying software which allows him to see her through her phone's camera and mirrors her phone screen onto one of his phones. He watches her every move and records all her calls.

The acting is great, however, the script is disappointing in the 2nd half. Particularly the dialog between the two police officers is ridiculous. The way they handle the case is so unlikely, unreasonable, and plain stupid that their actions cause irreparable harm to the plot. It literally drops icy cold water on the face and disconnects the viewer from the story.

The plot had so much to offer. If the police handling of the case would have not been written so dumb, the film could have been much more enjoyable.

Storyline 1: Girl loses her phone. Weirdo finds phone, installs spyware and proceeds to destroy girl's life.

Storyline 2: A body has been found on a mountaintop. Detective thinks his runaway son might be involved. With a bit more investigating, more bodies are found. Yep. We've got a serial killer.

IMO, South Korea has found a niche in producing quality thrillers. With films like Oldboy (2003), I Saw the Devil (2010), Blood and Ties (2013) and The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (2019), there's a nice collection of films that can keep you on the edge of your seat. Each has a special something that pushes it into an above average watch. It could be the actors portraying their characters, the story itself or the way the film progresses but each film has a little something extra that makes you lean back after watching it and say, "That was good." While I didn't have that moment at the end of this, it was still a decent watch.

The story is somewhat cliché and predictable. It was lacking a true sense of drama and thrill. The actors delivered good performances but they all failed to reach above and beyond. The stand out, for me, would have to be our weirdo. There's something about the smug, arrogant narcissist that gets under my skin and keeps me hooked simply because I want to see this guy get what's coming to him. That's what really kept me interested.

It fails to be driven by a sense of vengeance like what is seen in I Saw the Devil (2010), the urgent thrill of something like The Chaser (2008) or the strategy and action one finds in The Divine Move (2014) but it is an okay watch for a weeknight on the couch. If that's what you are looking for, check it out.

It's a cybercrime thriller based on book.

Premise is promising, antagonist is quite eerie but then film didn't explore much and didn't offer more promising thrills after a point.

It's a cautionary tale, rather ominous film which tells possible dangers if you lose your smartphone. It tells how easily any smart psychopath can use your smartphone and ruin your life.

Performances are good specially Si-wan, (he is playing back to back as creepy antagonist), became his forte. His character became one dimensional.

In many Korean movies, cops are having low IQs, don't know why 😅

After a point, movie became bland than what I expected, it could have been better.

While Unlocked is a tad better than the wannabe thrillers Netflix keeps dumping onto us, I felt some of its thriller potential fizzled out in its last act. There are two stories at play: one is that of a psychopath stalker out to destroy a young woman's life (for the heck of it) by having access to her smartphone; the other is of a cop investigating a serial killer, who he suspects, might be his runaway son. At 1h 57m, the film's storytelling hooks do their job of engaging us, accompanied by solid performances from Woo-hee Chun and Si-wan Yim.

The idea of an identity-stealing stalker-killer picking his victims by slyly accessing their smartphones is terrifying. Though the plot moves along in a rather predictable way, with the perpetrator systematically destroying the protagonist's life exactly how we anticipate, the film never falls short on fundamental thrills. Will the protagonist gain the upper hand? Will the criminal be caught? Do both stories eventually converge? These questions get answered in an okayish (and gory) finale, but the developments until then are pretty compelling.

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.