Sorum

Sorum is a movie that dances around genres with a fear of commitment that only adds to the grim details of our character's lives. Maybe it can best described as a horror film without the H. Unlike other movies, it does not fall prey to the contrived necessity to reveal the complete back plot by way of ostensible flashbacks. Instead it relies on the intelligence of the audience to figure it out, or not. The characters here are a shifty lot, creating a splendid layer of suspicion as to who is going to be the bad guy, if such a creature is to make an appearance. Likable the characters are not. Set in about as dreary a housing complex that has ever existed, this home ground symbolizes the lives of our players, a corrupt morality where life's baggage keeps piling up unattended, with stagnation sure to seek rot as its faithful companion. This is the setting for a typical South Korean cinematic affair, a convoluted tale of shady characters whose shenanigans are sure to catch up with them. The only question is what form will their dirty deeds manifest in order to play havoc on the remainder of their lives. The acting was strong; they all captivated my whole attention in that I wanted to know just what sort of past could have created such misery. Director Jong-chan Yun's debut is a solid one. He crafts a creepy tale that relies on filming basics, eschewing any need for tricky tactics to mask any shortcomings. Not a film for everyone, but for those that enjoy a slow burner with lots of character meat to chew on, Sorum is sure to satisfy us in one way while challenging us in another.

Genruk of Evil Eye Reviews

It is easy to identify most films which are classified as Horror cinema. A large part of them have blood, gore and other gut wrenching scenes. It should come as a relief to horror cinema admirers that 'Sorum' is a different type of horror film. There is blood but it is shown in a very dignified manner. This has somewhat led to its being called an intelligent man's horror film. This film's dramatic elements bring viewers closer to the tragedy which happened three decades ago. Each character is closely observed to ascertain how his/her presence is related to events happening in present times. A wide variety of characters are represented in Sorum namely a young taxi driver, a talkative barber, a failed writer and a harassed wife. South Korean film 'Sorum' had its Indian premiere during 7th International Film Festival of Kerala 2002. Film critic Mr.Lalit Rao has experienced that watching it in 2015 is as interesting as it was in 2002 when he watched it during the film festival.

I've never seen anything quite like this picture before - it's an amalgamation of suspense, supernatural, and social realist genres and is well worth seeking out.

The film chronicles the various goings-on in the lives of several tenants of a crumbling Seoul highrise, primarily through the eyes of a new leasee who becomes caught up in their morally compromised existences. As the film progresses, we come to realize we know less about our narrator then we thought, and that he may be as capable of evil as the other characters.

To sum this film up is difficult, and I haven't even scratched the surface here. It's beautifully written, acted, and directed (by a first-time helmer no less!) and worthy of attention.

This movie is a kind of horror - thriller flick. But it's not based upon supernatural things. This is based on our common life, though this apartment is for very poor people. In fact, this is a life-taken picture rather than a movie. That's the reason why I grade this movie as 7 points. In fact, the apartment in this movie is extremely creepy itself. If this movie exports worldwide, this is a highly recommendation!

As unlikely as it may seem for a thriller/horror flick, Sorum is a heartbreaking study of love's fragility, set in a crumbling tenement with a dark past in room 504, into which moves the protagonist, a 30-ish orphan taxi-cab driver, still seeking the maternal affection only haltingly admitted in his transient life. He meets a troubled neighbor, an externally tough, but vulnerable worker at a nearby 7-11, and bonds with her by helping dispose of the abusive husband who dies during one of his daily bouts of beating. This shared secret, however, is not the only secret uniting the two lovers and the other tenants of the apartments, inescapably implicated in the unfolding of the barely concealed tragedies that lie at the broken but eerily (if cruelly and perversely) nurturing heart of 504. Incisive psychologically knowing acting, supernatural forebodings, and a progressively tension building mystery are economically and seamlessly integrated in a profoundly affective portrait of the redemptive potential and ghostly possibility of abyss attending our attempts to break into family intimacy.