Darius D
Was an okay movie. Script could be better. Kinda silly actions that characters took during the movie does not sit well with me.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
Full Review
Audience Member
One of the best Korean films I've seen.
Started it very late not intending on finishing it that night. Got hooked and invested into the story and characters and was worth staying up until 5am!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/21/23
Full Review
jesse o
So where do I start with this movie??? I suppose I should make mention of the concept and I genuinely do like the concept. While it's not something that hasn't been done before. It's not so necessarily a time loop movie like Groundhog Day, but there are enough similarities to it where you can make some comparisons. The days for the kids who froze time, for everyone but themselves, are exactly the same. They can move objects, but once they're thrown into the air the stay there as gravity doesn't affect them. But they also get older while stuck in this situation. So it also reminds me of a little Mexican indie sci-fi film called The Incident, where it's a time loop that the characters get older in. But it also has enough fantasy to where you can also make comparisons to A Werewolf Boy, or some aspects of that movie at least. There's also the romantic undertones between Seong-min and Su-rin that feel a little weird when she's talking to a 30-year-old man. A 30-year-old man in arrested development, to be sure, given that he never really got to experience his teen years, but a 30-year-old man nonetheless. So it borrows from all over the place, but I still felt that it felt enough like its own movie to where it doesn't come across like a ripoff of a variety of different movies. I also liked the idea of this kid, who's been stuck in time for 15-16 years, getting older every year, while the world around him is still pretty much the same it was before he left. It's a world that he doesn't recognize even though very little time has actually passed and how he tries to adjust to the changes and to being ostracized by everyone that he used to know. So yea, I definitely liked the concept. So where did it all go wrong with this movie? Well not that it went wrong, but I can't shake this feeling that there's just something about the movie that just didn't work for me. I think the whole friendship between Su-rin and Seong-min feels a little forced. Like, I don't know, I think they try to hard to sell you on the idea that these two are supposed to be inseparable and it just didn't ever feel like that to me. I mean they were certainly very close, but for Seong-min to hold on or as long as he did in the situation he finds himself in just to see Su-rin again is kind of pushing it for me. There was nothing about their interactions prior to the event that ever made you feel like they were inseparable. Maybe I'm just the only one that sees it that way, but I just felt it was way too forced. And I guess you could make the argument that Seong-min needs a reason to keep going and Su-rin is that reason, but I think the movie just tries way too hard to make the point. And, I'll be honest, while I like Seong-min having to adjust to a world he hasn't been in for almost 2 decades, I think they just rely too much on the sentimentality attached to Seong-min and Su-rin and how Seong-min has to avoid persecution for the perception that he had something to do with the disappearance (and maybe murder) of the other two kids. To me, and this is only my opinion, the best parts of the movie, by a country fucking mile, has to be the flashback sequences where Seong-min writes for Su-rin, in their own secret language, everything that he went through after time stopped for him and his two friends. These are the bits where the movie really shines, because it's visually interesting, given the fact that gravity, for example, has no effect on water or any of the objects in this world. It also works in that it tells a surprisingly heartbreaking story of what happened to Jae-uk and Tae-sik. Jae-uk, being asthmatic, needs inhalers. But, eventually, either they run out or he's unable to use it as a result of the effects of time not affecting the inhaler itself. Like, for example, they try to drink coke from a cup, the actual liquid itself would be solid. They don't touch on how this affects things like inhalers, but I assume it had to affect it somehow. Anyway, if you didn't guess, poor Jae-uk dies a result of his not being able to use an inhaler. He dies without his parents ever knowing what truly happened to him. And the visuals the movie uses to represents his death really are quite effective in getting this point across. Though, sadly, there's a bit of an unintentionally hilarious scene. So you know how I said that gravity doesn't affect anything that's not stuck in this situation. Well that includes people. So when Jae-uk dies, he's no longer a part of the world Seong-min accidentally created, so he's not affected by gravity. To move Jae-uk's body, they to a string or something to his arm and use him as a kite. It was absolutely hilarious. I mean Jae-uk floats and he is weightless, did you really have to use him as a kite? Couldn't you just pull him by his hand or something??? Talk about lessening the emotional impact. Moving on later, after some years have passed and Tae and Seong have become adults, you get to see Tae's worsening mental state as he struggles to find reasons to keep going, not knowing when this is going to end. Obviously Tae-sik's fate isn't that much different than Jae-uk's. But, once more, I think the movie does a great job at making Tae-sik's last moments emotionally effective. The flashbacks take up a huge chunk of the film, maybe not half of it, but a huge chunk nonetheless. Like I said, these segments are what the film does best and everything else after that point sort of pales in comparison. Like I mentioned already, they're way too heavy-handed with the relationship between Seong-min and Su-rin to the point where it just isn't as emotionally satisfying as everything that came before. Seong-min's friendship with his buddies isn't the focus of the film, so theirs was a little more subdued and organic, where as his friendship with Su-rin is exploited for all its worth and the sentimentality that comes as a result of that friendship felt incredibly unnatural. The acting is very good, so I can't really complain about that. The problems I have is with the scripting. Film is beautifully shot, so I can't complain about that in the slightest. Oh and the climax is pretty much what you would expect. There comes a situation where Su-rin finds herself in a situation where her life is in danger. Prior to this, they find another egg. It is exactly what you expect. Seong-min sacrifices his youth (being 45-46 by the time he'd get out of this second 'event') to save Su-rin. Selfless sacrifice and whatnot. It is what it is and it doesn't really make me feel any more attachment to these two than I already had at this point, which wasn't much. So I guess that's all I have to say. There's parts of this movie that are really very fucking good, but there's also parts of it that are incredibly uninteresting. I don't think they do as much Seong-min struggling to fit into this world that, really, hasn't changed as they should have. They're centered entire on the friendship between its lead characters and it just isn't that effectively handled. The acting is good, but it's also marred by sentimentality. So, to me, this is the very definition of a mixed bag. I'm sure most people will enjoy this than me, but I just felt that the more interesting parts of the movie happen much earlier and everything after that is a downgrade. Decent enough, but not really worthy of a recommendation.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
When the time froze, but not one's growth.
There's nothing left to say about the Korean film industry. I've already praised highlighting all the best stuffs. One thing they lack is the awards winning capability, like perhaps the Oscars. Cinematically and entertainment perspective, they always give a top notch product. Particularly, the kind of emotions they use, is very closely appeals to my culture, probably for the rest of the world as well. All I have heard about this was a fantasy film. Beyond that, it was a little romance, a little emotional and a little thriller.
There are a large number of people outside the South Korea follow the Korean films. Though this one is definitely an under-noticed a great piece of work. I don't know this director, but he wrote and made it pretty awesomely. This kind of tale very much suitable for anime. It's going to be just like another 'Your Name'. If they decide to make it with the small changes, I'm absolutely on to it.
The title is not really enchanting for a fantasy film. But definitely makes sense on what it narrates. This is a fantasy film, though, since time involved in it, it automatically a small part of science fiction too. They had well covered all the loopholes and flaws. They did not detail out all minute things, but if you think little intelligently, you will get all the answers for your doubts. For instance, how that asthma boy had died.
From a small Korean island town, the story followed a teenage girl, Soo-rin who recently moved in there with her stepfather. She was considered a weirdo in the school for being lonely. Then a boy named Sung-min befriends her and become girlfriend-boyfriend. One day they along with two other boys venturing to the nearby mountain forest, discovered a glowing object. In the next minute, everything has changed. All of them disappeared, except the girl. Now the town is enraged by her little story.
?Let me grow to 6ft. Earn $10 dollar before age 30.?
Nobody knows what had happened, including Soo-rin, until a man who approached her telling some strange story. She finds a reason to believe that, but not anyone else. It goes on like they are fighting to tell the truth to the world, but it was beyond reality. Adds more complication every time they try to explain it. Without any options to solve it, where the remaining narration heads and ends were told quite nicely, emotionally.
The story was simple, but the details makes is more complex. Easy to follow, there's always an explanation for everything you see. Contents wise, it is a well balanced for children's and the grown- ups viewing. Whenever a film theme involved messing with time, it has to be very clever. Because time naturally does not exist in the universe. It is the human's creation to understand everything's existence. I think they have designed this story with the characters so well. It could be a time travel theme too, if you take it from a different perspective.
Two hours long film, but that did not bother me. Because I well merged with the story. The twist came early itself as the storytelling demanded it. But there were many turns in the later parts. Especially the entire second half is less excitement if you are a fantasy film fan. Though it gets tense for every scene, and creates curiosity about the conclusion. Not the best ending, yet very suitable one. What I am impressed with it was how smartly they used the graphics. They did not require higher end. Simple and believable visuals, compared to Hollywood's similar style flicks. One such interesting fact was, they wanted the story to lead the film than the colourful graphics.
Nice performances. The locations were good too. There are some moments that reminds other films. Nothing like it stole from them, though for the similarity in the thematic and the situations. The overall film theme was not out and out fresh. It simply changed a few rules and with the kind of development, it created its own identity. As for me, this is one of the top ten fantasy films of the decade and top ten in all time Korean fantasy film. As I said, if you love this genre, then it is a must see. Highly recommended!
9/10
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Beautiful movie. So glad I chose to watch it.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/18/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Filme com enredo e atuação maravilhosos.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/20/23
Full Review
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