Hae-won is a beautiful single woman in her thirties who works at a bank in the Seoul city. She leads a busy life until she becomes a witness to an attempted murder case. At the same time, things get complicated at work and she is forced to take a vacation so she heads for ‘Moodo’, a small undeveloped island, where she had once visited to see her grandparents. And where she had befriended a girl named Bok-nam. Upon arriving at the island, Hae-won is shocked to see everyone treating Bok-nam like a slave. As practically the only young woman on the island, she is a plaything for all the men and a free laborer for the women. She begs Hae-won to help her escape the place, but Hae-won remains indifferent not wanting to be involved in complicated situations… –Semaine de la Critique
Loved the slow pace. Well-observed and builds its dread carefully, like classic folk horror. When the bloodletting starts, as it must in a Korean revenge joint, it got a bit overbearing. There's a great undercurrent of societal critique - the last shot puts a fine point on it in case you were asleep for the lecture - that boosts this above a typical rape-revenge.
After a series of unfortunate events, a woman is forced on a vacation to recover her wits. She travels to her childhood home on an island far from the bustling city of Seoul, where she reunites with a childhood friend, whose cries for help amidst unthinkable abuse have gone unheeded. A bit plodding, but hits a high note in its shocking finale. A chilling tale of shattered childhood dreams in a dark world gone wrong.
A Korean revenge film that creates a strong sense of 'What the $#%& did I just watch?' The first 10 minutes are ripped right out of "Drag Me to Hell" before the story ultimately settles in to become something like "The Wicker Man" meets "I Spit On Your Grave." There's honestly not much entertainment value to be had, but the filmmakers do effectively turn the island setting into an absurd, misogynistic nightmare.
As James Rocchi notes in his overview of this year's AFI Fest for MSN Movies, the directors of both the opening and closing night films are
Those posters are just a sampling of the series Mondo Tees has created for this year's Fantastic Fest, which officially opens this evening