Midnight Review

4 star high tension killer thriller.

Midnight is a South Korean serial killer thriller written and directed by Oh-Seung Kwon in his extremely impressive feature debut. It is presented here in Korean with English subtitles courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

“Think about it Officer. She said she’s in the neighbourhood, then suddenly she’s out of touch. Do you think it makes sense?”

As the film opens we see a young woman walking home from work after someone has stolen her taxi. Lured into a van, she meets a grisly fate as the young man Do Shik (Wi Ha-Joon – Squid Game, lying in wait kills her and then reports the killing to the police, blaming foreign workers.

So Jung (Kim Hye-Yoon – Extraordinary You, Snowdrop) is a young woman living with her brother Jong Tak (Park Hoon – Nobody Knows, Monster), who is very overprotective of his little sister, insistent that she be home for nine, although she insists she will be back at midnight.

As So Jung leaves on her night out, we see Kyung Mi (Ki-joo Jin – Misty, Come and Hug Me) working at a call centre in Sign Language Customer Service. She leaves to pick up her mother (Hae-yeon Kil – Assembly, The Silent Sea) who is also deaf. In true crime thriller style, they are in the wrong place at the wrong time as they witness Do Shik’s handiwork.

Can they evade this crazed killer, now hunting them in plain sight and save So Jung from his clutches too?

“Shut your mouth or your girl is dead.”

This is a great high stakes thriller which builds the tension brilliantly from start to finish. There’s an intense feeling of jeopardy, heightened by clever use of sound and silence, as we experience the world as our heroine does, relying on lights to tell us when a sound is being made.

It’s a brilliant cat and mouse game, twisty and turny, but also features some excellent chase sequences, tiring even to watch. The acting is really good too and it is quite a statement about South Korean society and their attitudes towards both women and anyone who might require assistance.

It’s an interesting twist to make the main characters deaf, but nicely done in that he doesn’t allow it to define them. Well made, well filmed and thoroughly enjoyable this one is well worth adding to your collection.

“I was having so much fun. That’s me, the f****r who stabbed your sister.”

Midnight is available now on Blu-ray and Digital Platforms.