A-i-deul...

What a movie! What an environment! Acting of every, even the small and limited characters act like lively. It seems I am seeing the real story not the movie. Direction, back-ground score, cinematography are excellent. Yet I am sorry about them whoever are the real victims and their families. Five children, age 8 to 12 like that, disappeared, at once, together. Story 1991, South Korea. I have seen this kind of movie, Memories of Murders, which is almost similar. Memories of Murders is one of my favorites. Children... 2001 is also now my favorites one. This movie will grip you till the last moment. You feel the same as the victims' families. You feel the same as the detectives, as the other people of the movie.

Extremely well acted and directed movie up until the LUDICROUS ending. What an insulting thing to do to this story. The filmmakers left out a CRUCIAL piece of the story - the 'evidence' which leads to the military's 'involvement'. The fabricated hollywood thriller ending of this film almost makes me sick. The filmmakers should feel great SHAME in how they ended this film. It insults the memory of the children and their families who suffered their loss. Heartbreaking tale. It's obvious the boy wandered into the military shooting base and one of was either accidentally shot OR they saw something they shouldn't have and we killed because of it. ONE person shot their rifle that day and his identity has never been revealed. IMO THIS is the culprit and until they are revealed, a HUGE injustice was done here. Very sad - and even sadder the filmmakers chose to ignore this... I haven't seen a more cowardly film in my life. It was involving right up to the end. Shameful, cowardly was to end this story. It's maddening and saddening at the same time.

I am a big admirer of Korean cinema. It has its distinct style of screenplay, characterization, storytelling and a definitive panache of humor. Movies like Memories of Murder, The Chaser, Mother, Voice of Murderer and Oldboy etc. There are several movies which has the cinematic tenets at its best.

Based on the true events, 'Children' depicts a case of 5 missing children in 1991. There begins a series investigations to search the children through many clues and clicks. The revelations are well timed and keep you at the edge of your seat.

The screenplay is water-tight which never loses the focus. Characterization is the key feature and it allows the viewers to connect with the characters, every character is so believable that you will feel their agony. The story has many folds and all the serendipitous discoveries are top notch.

The direction is perfect, it explores every occurrence immaculately. The desperation of media and incompetency of the police are portrayed flawlessly.

Acting is at its peak, every actor has played the part with utmost honesty and tangibility. The emotions, distress and panic of the characters are just believable.

A thriller like this is a benchmark for this genre.

Recommended

This movie deserves more credit then already provided. The direction, acting screenplay everything was pretty good. Full respect for the people who were impacted by this tragedy. This movie left me with a feeling that not every missing persons case is actually solved and the loved one's are forever doomed for the pain which comes afterwards.

I have seen a lot of crime movies. This one with The Chaser and Memories of Murder is the best ever made.

Novelty in this suspenseful movie is the treatment of the relations with the media. It's a good idea from director to introduce some questions of ethics.

What a pleasure to be drawn into a story by such intelligent writing and outstanding acting. The story is told with impressive direction, plenty of details and realism to hook in most people. There's a real sense of place and time.

Can the movie be as beautiful, but at the same time be ugly. Like any dark mystery, the film simply raises questions, and gets the viewer to care about what happened to the kids.

Characters of parents, TV producer, professor, children, detectives, wives and many others, each and every one is so well casted it's hard to find anything to criticize.

The biggest pro for this feature is that they keep all the characters human by giving them a soft side. Nobody is either extremely good or bad, they just are humans making stupid choices and having to pay the price for it.

You have to see it to believe how perfect it is.