Twisty South Korean time-travel slasher has an intriguing premise on paper but the film struggles to find its own identity.
Remember the 2006 American fantasy romance The Lake House? It features stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as two lonely people living inside the same lakeside home in different time periods who somehow are able to communicate with each other through letters in the mailbox. Or how about the hit TV miniseries 11/22/63 based on a Stephen King novel about a guy who discovers a mysterious time portal inside a local diner that he uses to travel back to 1960 in an attempt to prevent the assassination of JFK. The origin of this time portal is unknown but movie plots that involve time travel fascinate us as they have a certain mystique that draws us in.
If you combine the concepts of those two films mentioned above, throw in some much darker elements from a supernatural, a sci-fi, and a serial killer thriller into the mix, you'll get The Call, a brand new South Korean mystery horror which recently released on Netflix. As the title suggests, the film is about a mysterious phone call that connects two women from the past and present. In fact, this is the start of a dangerous game in an attempt to change the future and the fate of people. Despite its unique concept, compelling storytelling, and some of the top leading actors in the business, The Call -- written and directed by Lee Chung-hyun -- feels like a mixed bag and ends up containing elements of too many different genres which leads to it struggling to find its own identity in the end.
The plot revolves around Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye), who has returned to her home in a rural area where she lived as a child. On the first night back, she receives an unexpected call from a stranger and the voice on the other end sounds desperate. While she doesn't pay much attention to it, the calls keep coming. Seo-yeon soon finds that the girl calling her is actually Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo) and as they talk more on the phone, the two women realise they are actually living in the same house but separated by a time gap of 20 years. While Seo-yeon is living in the present, Young-sook is in 1999, however, time is progressing for both of them at the same rate.
From there, we get to see how the pair become friends as they begin to exchange information with each other such as what the past is like and similarly what the future is like. They chat about modern technologies like a cellphone, the internet, and share their mutual love for 90s alternative hip-hop stars like Seo Taiji and Boys (whose music features heavily in the film's soundtrack). Those conversations are fun and it really doesn't feel like a thriller, however, they soon start messing with each other -- sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse and the movie soon becomes sinister and a proper thriller. As the viewer, we get to see their relationship turn from that of friends into enemies. It's an interesting concept of how someone who thinks they are doing something good sets off a domino effect of chaos. It's so thrilling to watch that play out in the film.
The Call (2020).
There's good chemistry between the two main characters who interact well and have a great back and forth despite their interactions being only on the phone and not physically in person. Shin-hye, whose movies we've seen a lot of recently on Netflix such as Memories Of The Alhambra (2019) and #Alive (2020), is still fantastic here in the role of a desperate woman who is trying the best she can to protect the people she loves.
On the other hand, Jong-seo, an actress from the 2018 thriller Burning, seems to be trying a bit too hard to look like a mentally-ill patient who has become a serial killer. While there's nothing wrong with her acting, it just feels more cartoonish than realistic.
The Call is a slow grind and while it may start off as a mystery and fantasy, some might be shocked to see the film turn into an action sci-fi with hints of a blood-splattering slasher film in the third and final act. It's an odd marriage of many different genres that confuses us about the direction the film is really going. For example, there is a scene that is meant to be emotional or frightening, like how a good thriller should be, however, the film instead uses CGI and visual effects to create sci-fi action that reminds you of Christopher Nolan's Inception or even Michael Bay's The Transformers. It doesn't even feel like the same movie after a certain point.
I also find the final act and ending of The Call to be quite disappointing and it might frustrate you as a viewer. Also, in the post-credit part, the movie reveals some more secrets and it's something that I'm sure will divide people. Just as you think you've figured out all the twists and curves of this time-warping movie, they throw you one last curveball that completely changes everything you have already forced yourself to understand. It even suggests that there's a possibility of a sequel which I'm not sure is a good idea.
It seems the days of ensuring viewer satisfaction and making a movie that will stand on its own two feet are long gone. Not everything needs to be a franchise.
- The Call
- Starring Park Shin-hye, Jeon Jong-seo, Kim Sung-ryung
- Directed by Lee Chung-hyun
- Now streaming on Netflix
