Kim Tae-joon is a person of 1-line “what ifs,” a person of concepts. What in case your telephone falls into the fingers of a stalker? What if you find yourself residing in an condominium that is contaminated with noise issues? If Tae-joon requested that first query in Unlocked/Seumateuponeul tteoreotteuryeosseul ppuninde, he poses the second in Wall to Wall/84 Jegopmiteo (streaming on Netflix from July 18). For some time, it is easy to sit again and revel within the author-director’s absurdly calculated mayhem. In Wall to Wall, he creates a pitiable punching bag named Noh Woo-sung (Kang Ha-neul) and hits him with noise, fists, hammers, and monetary troubles. Woo-sung, an assistant supervisor, empties his financial savings account, takes out a credit score mortgage, and sells Meta Coin to grow to be a home-owner in Seoul. It is apparently a major achievement – all people desires to purchase a home. When Woo-sung asks the vendor how the price of the condominium jumped to ten million gained in simply an hour, he is instructed he can both take the deal or go away it for different patrons—patrons who wait eagerly, like vultures, to seize the condominium. However Tae-joon does not give Woo-sung a lot time to get pleasure from his second of happiness. In truth, he at all times retains happiness at an arm’s size from his character. Tae-joon teases Woo-sung with a fortunately-ever-after; he locations a skinny, clear door between Woo-sung and his heaven.
Therefore, after Woo-sung lastly strikes into his new residence, there is no home celebration, no celebration. The room is sparsely furnished, with empty bottles and plastic wrappers scattered throughout the ground. To economize on the electrical energy invoice, the lights are principally turned off, which additionally signifies that no air conditioner is used for aid from the recent climate. Woo-sung struggles to get his eight-hour sleep due to the fixed noise coming from the higher flooring. When he wakes up in the course of the evening or to the alarm on his telephone, we see him drenched in sweat, as if he had been asleep within the bathe. It is a whole mess, and but, Woo-sung is the form of man who has an optimistic “I Can” wallpaper on the telephone as a result of he wants all of the motivation he can get to undergo his each day, mundane existence. Tae-joon images the condominium with gloomy lights and a creepy ambiance. The corridors really feel cramped, and the partitions appear to shut in on Woo-sung, making a suffocating, claustrophobic surroundings. The disagreeable noises drive Woo-sung mad, and his insanity turns into the supply of enjoyment, drama, and darkish humor. There may be additionally a touch of horror thrown into the combination with eerie pictures, equivalent to when a lady standing behind Woo-sung, who leaves sticky notes on his door, seems to be an evil spirit when the automated gentle within the hall turns off. Wall to Wall, although, reaches its zenith throughout two sequences. One offers with a nightmare, whereas the opposite beautifully tilts in the direction of craziness when Woo-sung makes an attempt to click on a button on the pc on the police station.
Nevertheless, one thing occurs to Wall to Wall after that scene on the police station. All of a sudden, the film experiences a pointy dip in its power, as if it has expended all its energy in executing this nutty joke. Tae-joon does not precisely run out of amusing concepts. He does one thing surprising with a gun within the climax; nonetheless, the enjoyable stays on paper. Tae-joon throws in a journalist/a hacker (shades of Unlocked may be discovered right here)/a vigilante with a twisted notion of justice, and a wealthy, dangerous individual, however these components aren’t unified with the form of darkish humor that pervades the movie till the scene set on the police station. The whole lot all of a sudden begins to really feel uninteresting. As soon as you’re disconnected from the story, you provide you with “logical questions.” Why did not that Crypto Poor name Woo-sung (he is Home Poor) after Liberation Day to examine if he had obtained the earnings or not? Why does nobody from Woo-sung’s workplace name him to ask him to report again to work (he took go away until the Liberation Day, so far as I bear in mind)? We’re instructed that Woo-sung broke off his engagement, however no motive is obtainable. He is made single in order that the film can crush him from all sides, from each nook. Woo-sung is a puppet. He additionally represents the abnormal residents of Seoul who simply need to reside peacefully in a house they purchased after going by numerous trouble. Eun-hwa (Yeom Hye-ran), the residents’ consultant, stands in for the rich, revenue-pushed businessmen, and Jin-ho (Search engine optimisation Hyun-woo) is a journalist who desires the reality to come out within the open. Woo-sung is squeezed between these two totally different entities, these two totally different worlds, which might be simply Tae-joon’s manner of claiming that the folks of Seoul are trapped between the influential elites and sensational media homes. Their greed, their objectives, and their bickering noises have disturbed the peace of Seoul. It is a pity that the film itself descends into chaos and loses the required attraction to hit its mark. Wall to Wall in the end fails to ship both comedy or an efficient social message/satire.
Closing Rating- [5/10]
Reviewed by – Vikas Yadav
Observe @vikasonorous on Twitter
Writer at Midgard Instances
Launch Date: July 18, 2025, on Netflix
