Haebing

Bluebeard was a welcomed surprise among other recent South Korean thrillers. While movies of this genre tend to be more frantic and action-packed, Bluebeard takes an U-turn from this and is quite a slow burner, focusing more on its plot and on the psychological aspects of its protagonist.

Although it has its problems, like the sudden cuts and confusing timelines, it does a pretty decent job all-around, delivering an entangling and disturbing narrative that leaves you questioning your own reality.

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"Bluebeard" is about a doctor who moves into town for business, but suspects that the local butchers are actually murderers.

The first thing to understand about "Bluebeard" is that this is not your typical South Korean thriller that showcases a serial killer. The violence is tempered, with only a small amount of bloody imagery, none of which is particularly graphic. There are no highlight suspense sequences or exhilarating moments of intensity. Instead, this movie builds uncertainly with no therapeutic release for the viewer at all. This is not a crowd-pleasing feat of fun entertainment. It's more like a technical exercise in creating a traditional murder mystery with a lot of misdirection on the part of the filmmakers. This is a glacially paced movie that focuses heavily on psychology. And in that sense, I thought it did a good job.

If you decide to watch this movie, make sure that you're in a thinking mood. "Bluebeard" requires a bit of effort on the viewer's part because you must pay attention to the little details in order to appreciate the misdirections. In classic murder mystery style, I was constantly trying to figure out how to make sense of all the clues and pinpoint the identity of the murderer. And that theory changed as more evidence was presented to me.

I do think that some viewers will find this movie to be too slow for their liking. Again, there's not much "excitement" to this one, and it moves as slow as molasses in January. Even the answer to the murder mystery itself is revealed in a very matter-of-fact way. Some people may not be a fan of that either, especially if they're expecting a more intense conclusion.

But I do think that the positives of "Bluebeard" outweigh any negatives. I previously mentioned the proficiency of the murder mystery elements, but this film has very good direction as well. The director here is Soo-youn Lee, who previously gave us "The Uninvited" from 2003 – a very impressive psychological horror film that I strongly recommend. If you've seen that one, you'll know what to expect from "Bluebeard." Performances are also very good, across the board.

If you're in the mood for a slow burn, check it out.

What can I say about Korean crime and horror movies? When it comes to plot twists and character development Hollywood isn't even close. The plot centers around a middle aged Doctor whose life is in turmoil. He seems like your ordinary guy. This is one of the best movies I have seen in awhile it kept me enthralled.

Watch this movie because a lawyer who has a website about crime recommended it.. thought it would be a great watch.. but its just an average movie with predictable not so clever twists..

First of all: you will get your dose of Asian thriller which is what you are probably here for. However it's not a masterpiece or modern classic, but feels more like an "okay" smaller movie.

The reasons why it's not completely convincing or satisfiying have to do with the fact that it first tells one story and then a completely different story where some of the variables and personalities are changed completely. But the truth is again a little different.

This is not convincing not only because of lack of resolution but because there are no clues that could make one guess at anything beforehand or even looking back, but the stories are just told completely differently, which is kind of lazy and a cheap trick.

And all throughout the protagonist doesn't behave very reasonably, which is kind of a standard horror trope: all could have been prevented or at least been much easier if he had called the police right away (after the confession of the old man under unaesthesia or even later). Go figure. There are many stories that work that way, making one almost wonder if it's a deliberate, cheesy schtick... Certainly in some cases, however not in this one.

In this way, the story is deliberately bereft of some intelligence and self-awareness only to keep one guessing pointlessly and to keep the plot moving.