The Silenced (2015) – Korean Movie Review

The Silenced (경성학교 사라진 소녀들)

• Genre: Horror, Mystery
• Directed by: Lee Hae-young
• Starring: Park Bo-young, Park So-dam, Um Ji-won
• Summary: Set in 1938, Joo Ran has health problems and is sent to a boarding school in the mountains to get better. As her health improves, students slowly start to go missing, and she goes out to find the truth.

Review

The Good

• It’s visually a great looking movie. The setting of 1938 Japanese occupied Korea is the backdrop, and the Korean mountains look absolutely breathtaking. The use of color was also well noted, and the contrast the director chose really made the shots look interesting. Not only does the Korean mountains look great, the school itself was shot really well.
• One of the actresses, Park So Dam, is really great in this movie. There are several scenes where the script calls for her to act dramatically and instead of screaming and being very loud, she shows a lot of restraint. It’s something that a lot of actors are missing these days in Korean films where they think that yelling or crying out loud is a better way to show sadness or anger.

The Bad

• Even though the supporting character showed a lot of conflict and inner turmoil, the main character was rather dull. Not only the main character, but also the main villain. Usually in these movies, the main character acts as the investigator for what’s happening, but in this film, she is very passive to everything around her. Because she is so reactive, she doesn’t really fight through anything, until one specific scene, which was a bit too late.
• The biggest fault of any horror movie is the lack of any scares. Although the movie was shot well, the film didn’t have any tension. Scenes that should have been slow and methodical to generate mood, were rushed and revealed too quickly.  The director really rushed those key moments when he could have milked the scenes out to give the entire film a very creepy vibe, but instead it seems the director just opted to go for shock. For a good example on how direction can change the complexities of a film, look at the movie “Babadook,” it’s a great horror movie that’s tense throughout.
• The movie started out really well in terms of the writing, but as the we march through the acts, the writing really starts to fall apart. Now, I did enjoy the third act of the movie and it seemed very tight on what they wanted to do, but the second act was abysmal. It tried to do too much, and if you look back on the film after you know the reveal, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The Weird

• The key reveal in this movie might be a turn off to some, but it works in the context of the film. It wasn’t too on the nose, and it makes a lot of sense in terms of the story, but it’s something where a lot of people can be turned off by it.
• Most of the third act will be hit or miss on just the way things unravel.
• The ends credit music is extremely out of place.

Final Verdict

I found myself being entertained by most of the movie, but the movie isn’t perfect by any means. The writing can be clunky at times, and the main character is boring enough to bring my score down. The writing in the second act is it’s worst enemy, but if you can ignore some weird holes, it can be a decent movie to watch. 3.25/5.