Hoa-cha

Helpless is a 2012 Korean movie that somewhat got lost in the wash of a number of other Asian mystery/thriller/crime films that year. It's a low key tale that takes its time going from point A to point B, but, it is a pretty effective story that makes for an entertaining & worthwhile watch IMO.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Story: Successful veterinarian takes a liking to a pretty kind girl who frequents his animal clinic. They date, fall in love, and decide to get married. On the way to meet his parents, the young bride-to-be suddenly vanishes in broad daylight after receiving a seemingly innocuous phone call about some credit debt. Distraught and fearful that his love has been abducted, or worse, our young male protagonist sets out to search for her and find out what happened.

The vet who's searching for his missing fiancé is played by Lee Seon-Gyun. He does a really nice job of portraying the desperate and "helpless" man trying to find his love. He'll do whatever he needs to solve the mystery using his smarts & determination, and, by roping in various friends & acquaintances who can help him along the way. The friends & acquaintances who help him in the supporting roles all give solid performances (particularly so in regards to his Vet assistant, and, even more so in regards to the washed up former police detective friend of his).

As the efforts to solve the fiancés disappearance unfold, it becomes more and more clear that this woman was not who she claimed to be. The fiancé is played by Kim Min-Hee, and I've never really been a huge fan of her work in the past. I never hated her performances either, but she's always struck me as a somewhat distant or disengaged person (and actress). She absolutely rocks this role though, and makes for one downright (potentially) scary antagonist. Most of her scenes are smartly done via flashbacks and various speculations & re-imaginations, so you never get to know who her true character until the pieces of the story puzzle eventually start to fall in place. In the meantime, she gets a lot of juicy set pieces to act out (in which she is often incredibly effective).

As the story unfolds, it's just a matter of following along to figure out what is exactly going on with all the characters involved, and where the story is headed as a result. Can the Vet find/save his fiancé??? Is the fiancé really evil??? What will happen in the end??? Etc.

There you have it. Frankly, I think this flick is a bit underrated and under appreciated...I ain't saying it's great or anything, but, I did find it to be a very watchable and entertaining diversion. It's worth checking out!

A solid 7 out of 10 stars!

(2012) Helpless (In South Korean with English subtitles) PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

Adapted from the novel by Miyuki Miyabe co-written and directed by Young-Joo Byun that has a young couple, pet doctor, Jung Mun-ho engaged to be married to his fiance Kang Seon-yeong. Except that Mun-ho had plans to introduce her to his dad. And once he decides to stop by and grab a coffee, and upon him coming back to the car, she then ends up missing. Leaving with no trace of her other than a hair pin, he picked up at a nearby gas station. The next thing we know Mun-ho then goes on an obsessive rant to find her, including involving his uncle, Jong-geun a former cop. What happens next is just as baffling, which I needed to make sense to everything I saw that I needed someone to explain it to me. And just when you think there's some suspense, there isn't.

First of all, this is one of the best thrillers i have seen this year. I should say i did not move till the movie is completed.Probably the director Young-Joo Byun is one of the excellent mystery teller like agatha christie or Daphne du Maurier or Christianna Brand(Of course they are all writers). I was totally thrilled to watch this movie and came to know on information theft about credit card, house loan,insurance ...etc and identity masquerade.

Young-Joo Byun is feminist champion and took several documentary on women empowerment or suppression.

Not sure on directors view of her female lead character and her life style. It is not sure whether she approve of her lifestyle due to poverty and implying it is justifiable or condemning it.

By all means, this is a excellent movie. Being a mystery genre fan, i loved this entire movie all along. It is also sad the number of voters are less.

Found another gem.

this is one of those movies that you know the characters didn't end the same as when they began. as more the film reveals its interesting plot, as more we get attached do all characters, who have different motivations and effectively sound as real people. the story line reminds me of french movie "ne le dis a personne" and also Canadian film "incendies" (mostly because of the flashbacks) but it has a value of its own.

if you want a good thriller, with characters you can sympathize, and a good intriguing plot (i think everyone wants) i really would recommend this for you. just don't expect to leave the movie with a smile on your face. i didn't. but it was a very good ride.

I watched this film not knowing anything about the plot. I think that was a good thing. The less you know the better in this case. If you are considering watching it, stop reading and just go, it's great. All I will tell you is that the movie is an excellent mystery thriller. While the themes can be violent or sad, it's not over the top or gratuitous. The impact comes from the way the story is revealed, piece by piece. The acting, I thought, was excellent. I only guessed one part of the mystery, otherwise the rest of the time I was glued trying to work out the answers. I know a film is good, when afterward I feel like the character were real, and this film gave me that sense of realism. A litte more character development and background would have been nice, as the pace gets going really early on. Otherwise fantastic Korean thriller that is well worth checking out.