Unlocked

While Unlocked is a tad better than the wannabe thrillers Netflix keeps dumping onto us, I felt some of its thriller potential fizzled out in its last act. There are two stories at play: one is that of a psychopath stalker out to destroy a young woman's life (for the heck of it) by having access to her smartphone; the other is of a cop investigating a serial killer, who he suspects, might be his runaway son. At 1h 57m, the film's storytelling hooks do their job of engaging us, accompanied by solid performances from Woo-hee Chun and Si-wan Yim.

The idea of an identity-stealing stalker-killer picking his victims by slyly accessing their smartphones is terrifying. Though the plot moves along in a rather predictable way, with the perpetrator systematically destroying the protagonist's life exactly how we anticipate, the film never falls short on fundamental thrills. Will the protagonist gain the upper hand? Will the criminal be caught? Do both stories eventually converge? These questions get answered in an okayish (and gory) finale, but the developments until then are pretty compelling.

Storyline 1: Girl loses her phone. Weirdo finds phone, installs spyware and proceeds to destroy girl's life.

Storyline 2: A body has been found on a mountaintop. Detective thinks his runaway son might be involved. With a bit more investigating, more bodies are found. Yep. We've got a serial killer.

IMO, South Korea has found a niche in producing quality thrillers. With films like Oldboy (2003), I Saw the Devil (2010), Blood and Ties (2013) and The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (2019), there's a nice collection of films that can keep you on the edge of your seat. Each has a special something that pushes it into an above average watch. It could be the actors portraying their characters, the story itself or the way the film progresses but each film has a little something extra that makes you lean back after watching it and say, "That was good." While I didn't have that moment at the end of this, it was still a decent watch.

The story is somewhat cliché and predictable. It was lacking a true sense of drama and thrill. The actors delivered good performances but they all failed to reach above and beyond. The stand out, for me, would have to be our weirdo. There's something about the smug, arrogant narcissist that gets under my skin and keeps me hooked simply because I want to see this guy get what's coming to him. That's what really kept me interested.

It fails to be driven by a sense of vengeance like what is seen in I Saw the Devil (2010), the urgent thrill of something like The Chaser (2008) or the strategy and action one finds in The Divine Move (2014) but it is an okay watch for a weeknight on the couch. If that's what you are looking for, check it out.

This is a departure of the type of Korean films I usually watch (Rom-Coms), but decided to watch it solely because of the main lead Siwan as I had a curiosity to see him act in a total opposite role of what I have seen him do in the past (nice-guy roles). I just finished watching him in Summer Strike. He did not disappoint in this switch to a scary bad murderous guy. There is a little too much violence for me in the film, especially at the end and I was watching it before bed and turned it off to finish it in the morning as it was scary. Finished it the next day and the ending was different than I expected.

It's a cybercrime thriller based on book.

Premise is promising, antagonist is quite eerie but then film didn't explore much and didn't offer more promising thrills after a point.

It's a cautionary tale, rather ominous film which tells possible dangers if you lose your smartphone. It tells how easily any smart psychopath can use your smartphone and ruin your life.

Performances are good specially Si-wan, (he is playing back to back as creepy antagonist), became his forte. His character became one dimensional.

In many Korean movies, cops are having low IQs, don't know why 😅

After a point, movie became bland than what I expected, it could have been better.

Even if this is a work of fiction, the things and the messages it sought to convey here show just a small portion of the terrifying reality we cannot afford to overlook!

This movie tries to educate us about that issue while presenting a relatable piece of narrative that could happen to anyone, which is the most frightening aspect of the film. In todays modern world of digital dependency, we prevalently underestimate the factor of anonymity and that could bring a slew of problems. One mistake can bring inconceivable repercussions.

Now, merely evaluating it from a cinematic point of view, it was just passable; neither great nor horrible! The first two acts are excellent because they happen to construct a tense, suspenseful buildup, but when the third act gets underway, everything falls apart. I'm not certain as to what exactly went wrong, but they were just not able to maintain the momentum or the true essence of the tale.