The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra

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2022

1h 2m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Fantasy

Horror

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Popcornmeter

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4 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

A creature born in an abandoned mattress travels around the country feasting on its victims' vertebrae, struggling to break free from the bed, the mold, and its past.

Katelyn Nelson

Daily Grindhouse

The atmosphere of Vertebra lives in the liminal space between softly romantic and violent, as the creature develops along its lifecycle into something desperate to make sense of its complexities and the subtleties of the world around it.

Aug 4, 2024

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Pierce Conran

ScreenAnarchy

Park's film is all about tone and sensation and while its loose story does thread several episodes together, it's merely a sounding board for the work's principal preoccupations - modern malaise and alienation.

Jun 16, 2024

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Josh Bell

Crooked Marquee

It's less a creature feature than a meditation on the inexorable passage of time.

Rated: B-

Oct 24, 2023

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Michael Talbot-Haynes

Film Threat

The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra is the most magnificent malevolent mutant mushroom mattress movie made yet. One small step by an old mattress is a giant leap forward for the horror kind.

Rated: 10/10

Oct 20, 2023

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Phil F

A fungus among us. Whereas Thailand filmmaker Weerasethakul's "Uncle Boonmee" film exquisitely explores the theme of reincarnation, South Korea filmmaker Park Syeyoung's unique movie explores the idea of life becoming and what that may mean. A short film, but just long enough, that has elements of Cronenberg body horror, a dash of Murakami's fantasy romanticism and all wrapped in a dreamlike Linklater "Slacker" vibe. Some of the most personal relationship moments among couples and individuals are in a bedroom, which here, the thing in the mattress witnesses as it is brought to biological singularity. A very unique film, strangely brilliant and sad with its take on being an isolated creature in a modern world.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/23/24

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Park Syeyoung

Director

Park Sye-young

Director

Mun Hye-in

Gyeol

Ham Sukyoung

Yoon

On Jeong Yeon

Yul

Jung Soo-min

Jun

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Synopsis

A creature born in an abandoned mattress travels around the country feasting on its victims' vertebrae, struggling to break free from the bed, the mold, and its past.

Director: Park Syeyoung, Park Sye-young
Producer: Jeong San-hee
Screenwriter: Park Syeyoung, Park Sye-young
Production Co: Moonstone Pictures
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller, Fantasy, Horror
Original Language: Korean
Runtime: 1h 2m

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The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra

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