Esconde-Esconde

Korean writer/director Jung Huh made this fascinating film in 2013 to great critical acclaim. It is a well-sculpted movie and surprisingly is more understated than the usual fare from these films.

Seong-soo (Heyeon-ju Son)), a successful businessman who lives with the perfect family in a luxury apartment, has secrets and mysophobia (pathological fear of contamination and germs) about his one and only brother. One day, he goes to see his brother after a phone call about him being missing and sees weird symbols all over the house and he meets Joo-hee (Jung-Hee Moon) who knows his brother. "Please tell him to stop looking at my daughter. Joo-hee lives alone with her daughter but lives in fear of someone watching them. Seong-soo looks around carefully at the old apartment and realizes the symbols mean gender and numbers of people. Seong-soo returns to his home from his brother's and notices a familiar symbol written next to the doorbell of his house, too. And the mystery thriller sails to a strange conclusion.

In Korean with English subtitles, this is a bizarre little jewel of a film, well worth watching.

This film's overall rating should be higher than just 6.4. I am not saying it's a masterpiece, I am just saying it's a well prepared movie suitable for viewers of all ages.

South Korea kicks out another solid entry in the Murder-Mystery Genre.

This is a hard movie to talk about without giving too much of the story away. 'Hide and Seek' does a great job building up suspense and mystery, even if the finale is a bit overdone. Providing plenty of creepy set pieces, 'Hide and Seek' is a good choice for someone seeking a solid mystery and a few good thrills. Another above average movie coming out of South Korea, though certainly far from the best. And it is on Netflix!

Full Review at: http://www.simplefilmreviews.com/2014/08/hide-and-seek- 2013.html

Korean Cinema has been consistently making one of the best thrillers; "Hide and Seek" is an addition to that list. Huh Jung's debut feature as a Writer/Director has every ingredient of a classy and creepy thriller and has been executed with precision. It keeps us at the razor edge for the entire run time; every scene will leave you contemplating with the supreme suspense. It leaves behind the clichés of slasher/horror movies and gives a new tone within the genre.

At the very start, a woman is chased by person dressed in all black, sporting a black motor cycle helmet, following young woman and you will instantaneously feel that it is going to be a sensational ride.

Sung-soo (Son Hyun-joo) is a wealthy entrepreneur, suffering from excessive cleaning and anxiety, living a mundane life with hidden secrets. With his wife and two children, he lives in an affluent life in a very high society and trying to keep the family happy. Until one day, when Sung-soo receives a call informing him his estranged brother has gone missing. This starts his hunt to find him and he is engulfed into the mysterious world. He is chasing the enigmatic black figure thinking that it is his brother. The revelations and symbols keep you startled as frames pass.

The screenplay has perfect timing of revelations, flashbacks and strikes an entertaining chase sequences. The character development and the subplots add values and sometime it jumps the genres. The editing has been done with utmost skill with sustaining the intensity through 107 minutes of decent run time.

"Hide and Seek" is a well-made and satisfying thriller, with good performances. Finally , we get an astonishing thriller with terror and horror.

A must watch for Thriller Genre.

MY Vote - 7.5/10.

The director created a tense and thrilling atmosphere . The acting was brilliant . The child actors were outstanding . The music was great ! I also liked the fact that the movie didn't drag on .

Hollywood films are getting worse and worse . The acting and script is usually awful and they're too busy being 'Woke' rather than making powerful and suspenseful films , like they used to . The budget is usually big whereas the Korean filmmakers have a small budget but make superior movies .

This little gem is definitely worth a watch !