The movie “The Closet” directed by Kim Kwang-bin looks like a typical occult movie but it is not.
The film begins in 1998 with a video of a shaman who was struck by an invisible soul and stabbed himself with a knife while dying. The dark and creepy atmosphere makes audiences accept the film as a horror and occult genre.
The scene shows Sang-Won (Ha Jung-woo), who lost his wife in a car accident, moving to a country house with his daughter (Heo Yool). She just stares at the window with her mouth closed and her father tries to get her attention. The relationship between the two seems normal, but abnormal.
The main character, Sang-Won, tries to improve his relationship with Ina who closed his heart after the accident, but it’s not easy because he also has to work and fight against the consequences of the accident. Ina is alone because of her mother’s absence and her father’s sadness at not knowing her heart.
Then, in front of Ina, the closet door opens, and since then she has changed from expression to tone. Sang-Won, who worries about taking care of his strange daughter and working, is inclined to send Ina to boarding school.
Inna, who was in conflict with her father, suddenly disappears. Sang-Won begins to search for his missing daughter. However, it is not easy to find traces of his daughters. On the contrary, Sang-Won is in doubt. Then the internet is cut off and a mysterious man comes home to check the internet. Sang-Won is about to kick a man out of his house. It turned out that the man was an exorcist, Kyung-hoon (Kim Nam-gil), who was chasing something. He knew exactly Ina’s behavior before he disappeared and explains why Ina did it and disappeared.
“The Closet” creates an unexpected fun touch through a mix of genres. The new story and new genre includes not only horror and fantasy, but also the drama genre. However, the chilling horror sequences do their best and satisfy fans of the genre.
The sum of Ha Jung-woo and Kim Nam-gil is good. In particular, Kim Nam-gil, who appears as Kyung-hoon, brings the film to life with an unexpected character. Heo Yool and Kim Si-a, the two young actors, also support the narrative. The unique view of the world dealing with “the other world” reminds us of the American drama “Stranger Things”.
Meanwhile, “The Closet” will be released on the 5th.
