The Call: past and present collide
Written and directed by Lee Chun-hyun, The Call is what I would call a psychological thriller, at least for the main character. It is based on The Caller, a British and Puerto Rican film from 2011. It was released on Netflix in November of 2020. The Call was nominated for several awards of which one of the actresses, Jeon Jong-seo won "Best Actress" at two different award shows.
Kim Seo-yeon: played by Park Shin-hye
Oh Young-sook: played by Jeon Jong-seo
Eun-ae and Mr. Kim: Seo-yeon's mother and father, played by Kim Sung-ryung and Park Ho-san
Ja-ok: Young-sook's mother, played by Lee El
The Call follows Kim Seo-yeon, a young woman who is staying in her old childhood home to visit her sick mother in the hospital. She ends up losing her cellphone upon arrival, perhaps the scariest part of the movie. Just kidding. Due to this minor hiccup, Seo-yeon finds an extremely old landline as a backup. As she is about to relax for the first time, the phone begins to ring. She picks it up and receives a distressed call from another woman, Oh Young-sook, who is living 20 years in the past. They are connected through these phone calls, phone calls that change the lives of both women.
One thing that can be said about this film is that the acting is phenomenal. Park Shin-hye captures her character beautifully, she portrays the loss that Seo-yeon feels which such passion that it had me almost crying at some points. I cannot say enough good things about Jeon Jong-seo. She almost becomes Young-sook, depicting her descent into insanity as if it were her own. The proof is in the pudding as to why Jong-seo won awards. Young-sook has her own "Joker" laugh moment and Jong-seo masters it. There are moments where it is hard to separate the actress from the character, everyone, including their parents embody their characters perfectly.
The film heavily focuses on time: the past, the present, and how changes in the past can alter the present. There are moments in which there are changes to the present, and in these moments the cinematography and CGI shine. One scene in particular comes to mind, Seo-yeon experiences a positive change in the present, and the depiction of that alteration is just beautiful to look at. The what I'm assuming is CGI, just works in this film.
PSA: if you don't plan on watching the movie then give this scene a try, if you do I would refrain from watching it as it contains a SPOILER!
(The dialogue at the end of this video is not in it's original language, Korean, so the experience is a bit different. There are no subtitles in this video either but you can still get a feel for what is happening. Besides, the important part of this scene is the beginning in which the transformation of time shines.)
The story itself is something fresh, I had never seen anything like it. It's a unique premise in itself but the way that the plot develops was not at all predictable. I knew from the trailer that the light hearted mood of the beginning would take a turn for the worst but I could never guess what would end up happening next. The very ending itself was not a surprise but I think for the insanity of the entire movie, it fits in well.
Some content warnings include: child abuse, and graphic violence.
The Call earns a 5 out of 5 zombie heads. I would never have noticed a zombie apocalypse right outside of my house while watching this film. The acting is phenomenal and it really immerses you into the movie. Though you have to suspend a bit of belief with the aspect of altering time, with how well the acting plays out it almost feels believable.
“The Call (2020 South Korean Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Call_(2020_South_Korean_film).
As someone interested in South Korean media after Squid Game, this sounds like a great place to start. If the goal here was persuasion to watch, this piece is very successful.