Synopsis
As a personal loss intertwines with supernatural elements, unraveling one’s psyche, ‘Noise’ is set to chill South Korean audiences of psychological horror in 2024. It is directed by Kim Soo-Jin and tells the story of Ju-young, a woman suffering from hearing impairment who goes on to search for her sister, only to get lost in a turbulent mystery that is both dark and eerie. What follows rips the very fabric of one’s sense of reality and perception in a highly disturbing manner.
To get closure regarding her sister’s disappearance Ju-young moves into the apartment her sister disappeared from. Her hope is to uncover clues that explain the mysterious disappearance. Instead of unraveling the mystery Ju-Young, gets drowned in unfathomable experiences that are bizarre in nature. She experiences strange phenomena that defy explanation and logic. Juo-Young also claims to hear illogical sounds like scratching on walls, whispers, and movements—a claim even more curious given her disability.As she goes deeper into her work, Ju-young traces a disturbing history of residents before her, all of whom endured similarly shocking occurrences. It becomes clear that the apartment is not simply a location but rather a being that transcends space, infused with an ominous malignant force. Ju-young’s emotional and mental well-being deteriorates as she battles with her deepest fears, frightening memories, and a mysterious entity that seems to thrive on her loneliness.
Supporting Cast and Characters
Lee Sun-bin takes the role Ju-young, the protagonist. Having a hearing impairment adds to the strength and emotional fragility of the character. Lee carries the film on her shoulders because the character’s horrendous reality is one of a person continuously fighting two wars—to her mind and the world around her.
Kim Min-seok portrays an enigmatic figure that becomes embroiled into the heart of Ju-young’s investigation. He walks a dangerous tightrope between helping and hindering her, complicating Ju-young’s already complicated universe.
Jeon Ik-ryeong features as a former renter of the apartment or as a character that possesses relevant information about its sinister past. Her scenes escalate the film’s tension while providing additional depth to the mystery of the film.
Ryu Kyung-soo plays the police or detective somehow related to the case of Yu-jin’s sister, lending Ju-young context while simultaneously supplying contradictory information regarding the supernatural happenings.
Han Su-ah and Baek Joo-hee complete the cast with characters that expand the unsettling history of the apartment.
Direction and Style
Kim Soo-jin has directed a horror film that relies heavily on the dominating atmosphere and psychological impact, rather than standard jump scares. Adopting a minimalistic approach, the movie focuses on silence, stillness, and close-up shots that convey the mental state of the protagonist (a) experiencing low-range hearing) to feel as if there are constraints on what she can sense. Ju-young’s hearing loss is both a narrative device and thematic metaphor that outlines isolation and fragility.
Ju-young’s world becomes thematically consistent through the camera work that accentuates narrow—sometimes oppressive—space with deep shadows and an eerie lack of movement. Quietness now ranks among the greatest weapons in the film’s arsenal. Whenever—even momentarily—noise does burst through, the scarcity and unpredictability of it transforms those sounds into something unsettling.
Appropriately for a film titled Noise, the sound design is striking. Every insignificant noise—from creaks to whispers—is infused with significance. The film immerses the viewers into Ju-young’s world, where sound—and its absence—is transformed into terror, bewilderment, and at times, revelation.
Examination of Themes
Silence as a Form of Horror
The controlling aspect of sound and silence is arguably one of the most distinctive features of the film. Ju-young’s hearing loss is not used as a plot device, rather it is a tool through which fear can be experienced. Her minimal auditory input turns banal occurrences into alarming psychological hazards. The absence of background noise allows the viewer to focus on even the tiniest detail that can be heard, which bolsters tension in the most terrifying aspects of the movie.
Ju-young’s trauma started long before the physical journey as it marks a more profound psychic ordeal. She is a recluse who lives by herself, has no trust for those around her, and is haunted by what seem to be memories of her sister and perhaps even herself as a child. Her self-imposed solitude intensifies the supernatural influence within the apartment, which seems to capitalize on her already precarious mental state. Is the haunting real? Or is it simply psychotic trauma that Ju-young wrestling with? This central ambiguity of the film is what sustains the viewer’s attention.
Madness and Memory
Ju-young is struggling with some memories of the past, and as the story develops, it becomes very clear that she is trying to work through some concepts of suppressed Ju-young’s flashbacks and dreams indicate that she may have some troubled history associated with the building or her family. The film toys with the idea of memory as something that can actively hurt a person, pain, remorse, and unresolved issues become the true source of dread.
Space as a Living Entity
The apartment in Noise is not merely a setting — it is a character. It becomes increasingly suffocating and all-knowing with each step of the plot. The walls seem to breathe, the shadows grow, and the borders of the rooms fade. This idea of “haunted space” encapsulates a widespread in Korean horror: trauma can seep into places and then become passed onto other people like a succession curse.
Critical Appeasement
At the 2024 Sitges Film Festival, Noise gained attention for its disturbing tale and overwhelming perspective on storytelling. The film was considered to break the conventional standards of horror, as it opts for a calm plot that builds tension psychologically, not through scare tactics.
Critics emphasized Lee Sun-bin’s performance as the most praiseworthy part of the film, with many remarking that it was perhaps one of her most sophisticated and haunting portrayals to date. The film’s cinematography and sound design received praise as well for creating suspense without an over reliance on special effects or gore.
Some reviewers suggested the film’s pacing may be too slow for hardcore fans of the genre, and its open-ended conclusion perhaps too vague for comfort. Others argued that the ambiguity was fitting, claiming it resonated with the film’s primary themes of doubt, perception, and psychological disintegration.
Final thoughts
Noisepresents a unique take of contemporary South Korean horror. It blends a disturbing narrative with profound psychological exploration, employing minimalism, silence, and stark performance to evoke fear in an incredibly personal manner. It goes beyond the simple confines of a ghost story, transforming instead into a contemplative exploration of trauma, grief, and how our surroundings magnify and intensify our deepest fears.
For those looking for a horror movie that focuses more on psychological depth rather than blood and jump scares, Noise presents both an intellectually engaging and emotionally grueling experience. It captures the viewer well after the final frame—not for what it depicts, but for what it softly breathes in the void.
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