Unlocked, the new South Korean film not to be missed

Unlocked is a South Korean film directed by Kim Tae-joon based on the novel by Akira Shiga. It was released on Netflix for streaming on February 17, 2023. With Chun Woo-hee, Yim Si-wan and Kim Hee-won.

The story

Na-Mi loses her cell phone and finds herself caught in the nets of a dangerous psychopath.

Impressions

If the scenario can be satisfied with a single sentence, the realization is no less complex, showing extreme meticulousness. Im Si-Wan, seems to assert himself and wallow in this kind of viscous and organized role. His good-natured smile then becomes a source of chills and discomfort. What will happen to Na-Mi behind this angelic and almost compassionate smile?

Unlocked raises several important points. We have understood it for a long time, nowadays, most human beings save their lives in a phone. It has become the extension of the hand, a drug whose loss can turn out to be the end of the world. With good reason, certainly, because addresses, videos, photos, information, social networks, presentations, work, codes, bank account number, social security … private conversations… Everything is stored virtually in this device. (Non-existent in the childhood and youth of some, and yet, we survived!).

Nowadays, a rumor is going around the world

Another very serious point is the false information that can happen to circulate on the Internet. The consequences. Before, at the time when computers were only illusion, a rumor circulated between neighbors, in a small village … Television has always manipulated us, often without our knowledge, but it is still "something" that remained on the other side of the screen. There were no real interactions. Nowadays, a rumor is going around the world. This false information reaches the ears, or rather the eyes of all those people who are ready to believe everything. And forgive nothing. Thus, since it is impossible to prove the contrary, said information becomes a reality, with the consequences that flow from it. The person is fired, harassed and even threatened with death.

Getting hacked these days is synonymous with rape. We are naked in front of an intruder we do not even know. Paranoia sets in. The first shots make it much more palpable and real. The music of the composer Dalpalan (Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned, Believer, The Call among many others) densifies it. Joon-Young, played by a terrifying and confident Im Si-Wan, is having fun like a cat with a mouse for no apparent reason. If we observe a cat playing with a mouse, we can see most of the time that it displays a boring and quite flat pout. Devouring its prey without preliminaries seems unraveled from any interest. And even if the ultimate goal is to eat the poor unfortunate, all this waiting makes the moment unbearable for any witness.

This proves the total disinhibition to which we are increasingly subjected.

Japan is currently suffering from the so-called #sushiterrorism. Internet users film themselves licking sushi or bottles of soy sauce in "kaitenzushi", sushi bars where food parades on a conveyor belt. The reason? Is it because it's funny? Is it to attract millions of views? The fact is that this phenomenon only makes their court laugh and that it proves the total disinhibition to which we are increasingly subjected. The mobile phone has become a weapon, an instrument that can easily destroy the lives of others. And the worst thing is that it has returned to the norms. It is now part of our lives.

Na-Mi, played by actress extraordinaire Chun Woo-Hee (Ah! Awesome in "Vertigo") goes from being the victim to becoming the predator. The change in attitude is notorious and leads to a whole other dynamic in the frame. If the film could sit with a certain slowness where we almost want to push everyone to do something, it is only to immerse us in the methodical and meticulous atmosphere of the psychopath. Na-Mi has nothing left to lose, and the man in front of her turns out to be an abominable monster.

Unlocked plays with our primal fears, pours out in this feeling of claustrophobia and helplessness that can provoke the invisible intruder. Joon-Young makes us his puppets and the play he created makes him a fallen god who still pulls the strings of our lives. Even if South Korean cinema has already done better, this film has the merit of keeping our eyes glued to the screen throughout the viewing. Its suspense and the resulting fear are based on the interaction with the viewer. This is a story that could happen to any of us, in a society where the absence of a mobile phone has become unimaginable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8qGElYoAoU&ab_channel=TheSwoon