[MOVIE REVIEW] Following (feat. Byun Yo Han, Shin Hye Sun, Lee El)
If you’re into mystery thrillers, please do yourself a favour and WATCH THIS MOVIE.
“I don’t do bad things. I only observe.” – Koo Jung Tae
The original Korean title for the movie is 그녀가 죽었다, literally translated to “that woman died”, but the English title “Following” definitely sounds a lot better and is very fitting for the plot.
So what’s the movie about? I went in without watching the trailer so all I knew about the movie beforehand was that it’s a mystery thriller starring Byun Yo Han, Shin Hye Sun, and Lee El. And for those of you who are familiar with these actors, you know that you can count on them to deliver stellar performances in whatever project they choose. So it was a no-brainer for me to catch this movie in theatres.
The main premise of the movie is that Byun Yo Han‘s character, Koo Jung Tae is an avid follower (basically a stalker) of social media influencer Han So Ra (played by Shin Hye Sun), following her around trying to figure out what kind of a person she is (Is she really a good person like her image online or is she faking it?). One day, he stumbles upon her dead body and thus begins his nightmare of trying to find out who killed her while trying to avoid getting framed as the culprit. Lee El plays the detective in charge of solving this case.
I don’t want to go into too much detail because a mystery-thriller movie is really only fun to watch if you’re watching it without knowing what’s going to happen next. Get ready for some serious heart exercise though because the movie is action-packed and full of plot twists. Once Jung Tae discovers So Ra’s body, the audience no longer has time to breathe as it’s a race against time to discover the truth. Couple that with the acting prowess of the cast and you have a movie that’s bound to blow your mind.
The movie deals with different types of crazy people, and they’re all scary in their own ways, so be prepared feel some anxiety (fair warning!) while watching. It also made me think about all the little quirks we have as humans, and where we draw the line to decide whether someone is a “good person” or a “bad person”. Then there’s also society’s obsession with “famous people” and how with social media, it is so easy to form parasocial relationships with them that we sometimes forget that we don’t actually know these people personally. Yet we judge them anyway based on what they post online. But I digress.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, go watch the movie, enjoy the emotional rollercoaster, then take some time to think about our society and how humans behave. Because it’s truly fascinating if you think about it.
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