(South Korea 2020) 

Original Title: Kol 콜

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Directed by Lee Chung-Hyun Produced by Jeong Hul-Sun Starring: Park Shin-Hye, Jun Jong-Seo, Kim Sung-Ryung, El Lee, Park Ho-San, Oh Jeong-Se, Jo Kyung-Sook, Ryu Kyung-Soo, Lee Dong-Hwi Reviewing: Netflix UK Release Genres: Thriller / Drama​

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Rating - 4.3 / 5

Synopsis: Two people live in different times. Seo-Yeon lives in the present and Young-Sook lives in the past. One phone call connects the two, and their lives are changed irrevocably. (112 Mins)

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Views: For his first feature film, director and screenplay writer Lee Chung-Hyun does an amazing job in bringing a highly entertaining and incredibly tense film to the screen. In The Call, characters are kept to a minimum which helps in making things a bit more gripping, allowing you to focus on what's going on. With that said, it's hard to talk about The Call without giving too much of its surprises away...

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The story focuses on two young women, Seo-Yeon who lives in our present time, and Young-Sook, who lives a decade in the past. The connection is that they both live in the same house, albeit with 10 years of time separating them, but when a mysterious phone call connects them – the girls set out to help each other fix their lives, which leads to some drastic consequences. Having lost her father in a house fire 10 years ago, Seo-Yeon asks Young-Sook to go to their home and prevent the accident from home, something that she manages to pull off and help change Seo-Yeon's life in the present as her mother and father re-appear at home, healthy and well as if nothing ever happened. This is actually executed in a pretty cool way, with some interesting visuals that fix Seo-Yeon's world. But as time passes, Seo-Yeon begins to forget about Young-Sook and what she has done for her – enjoying her family time and repeatedly missing calls from the past. Unbeknownst to Seo-Yeon, the poor Young-Sook isn't getting it so well on her side. Suffering from mental illness, the teenager suffers some major abuse at the hands of her wicked stepmother, a practicing shaman who beats, burns, and ties Young-Sook up while trying her own form of exorcisms, which ultimately, will lead to her death. As she learns about the abuse and murder, Seo-Yeon tries to warn Young-Sook of her stepmother's actions which help save her life – yet at the same time, unleashes a monster!

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It goes without saying that what follows in the second half of the film is twist-after-twist, murder after murder, leaving viewers with the same kind of feeling they had while watching the Oscar-winning Parasite, or I Saw The Devil – but I don't want to spoil too much more for you, as the shocks and surprises are gripping. What I will jump to and hope to save you from, is the final twist of Lee Chung-Hyun's story that comes about in the post-credit scene. I wouldn't be lying if I told you to miss it in a bid to leave you feeling like you've watched an incredible film. As with all movies that deal with time travel (so to speak), there are questions on how it's approached or what would really happen. The Call doesn't make a mess of this, for the most part, executing its changes through time in a beautiful and original way – but for most, its post-credit scene screws things over and almost undoes everything before it. Some reviewers have looked into The Call quite a bit deeper than most, expressing how the past is all part of Seo-Yeon's present-self dealing with her own mental health issues. I suppose in some respect there is an element that could be pulled from it, but for me, it's a serial killer-thriller done with a unique approach. It was nice to see lead actress Park Shin Hye get behind two big hits during such a time in our world, both with her role here as Seo-Yeon and as the co-star of the very fun, #Alive. Although I haven't seen her in most of her television outings (which is odd considering the K-Drama is never off in our house), Park Shin-Hye has proven to be a great actress over the past decade and continues to do so in The Call. But it has to be her co-star, Jun Jong-Seo that steals the show as the deranged and incredibly twisted, Young-Sook. Having impressed with her debut role in Lee Chang-Dong's incredible thriller, Burning, Jun takes things to the next level in The Call (in only her second role) creating a character you just love to hate, and in all honesty, wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of.

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The blueprint was taken from the original screenplay by Sergio Casci, which was actually made into a film in 2011 named, The Caller, a British/Puerto Rican production directed by English director Matthew Parkhill. I've yet to see what he managed to do with the story then, but having seen The Call a few times now I'd be excited to see what the differences are overall and if the original is as twisted and dark as this is. Of course, Lee Chung-Hyun's adaptation would have been modified to suit its South Korean audience most of all, but I do feel it may be the stronger contender of the two having taken the best from the original source. The film is beautifully shot by Jo Young-Jik, allowing for some incredible visuals that are aided by lots of wonderful lighting, often adding more tension to the scene. The score is handled by Dalpalan, a South Korean composer who covered the music on hits such as R-Point, A Bittersweet Life, The Fox Family, and The Good, The Bad & The Weird, to name but a few. As mentioned, for a first-time director, The Call proves to be a highly entertaining experience as well as a very competent production. It's definitely one to watch on a dark night with the lights down low, and a film I look forward to watching once again in the near future...

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Just remember to switch it off after the closing graveyard scene!

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Overall: Well made and tense, The Call is a more unique modern thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat!