Unlocked (2023)

Unexplainable thriller, and definitely not a social commentary

I'm going to be honest, I started this movie only because of Siwan, and since the plot seemed interesting, I thought it would be worth watching it beyond the fact that I love to watch Siwan's shows and movies. However, I must say that his performance (and Chun Woohee's) in this movie was the only thing that kept me watching it.

If you want to watch 'Unlocked' looking for a movie that criticizes our society's dependence on smartphones and technology, don't. This is not a social commentary and it doesn't approach the topic like that. This is a movie about a psychopath with no background story or reason to kill, and once again, shallow female relationships that make you wonder if these writers have ever seen women in real life.

I'm going to start with the fact that it bothers me personally that psychological thrillers these days - and by these days I mean in the past several years - are all about male psychopaths with a nonsensical obsession to kill young women. No, I'm not saying that we should give these psychopaths a troubled childhood in order to justify their actions as adults. I'm saying that a story should have a reason to be, whatever it might be. But lately, kdrama writers, and those at Netflix in particular, seem to be making these stories about killing women just for shock value and nothing else. The fact that the reason 'Oh Junyoung' killed these women was just because they dropped their phones is the weakest and most boring reason I've seen in this type of dramas, and that's a lot to say considering that I keep thinking about the drama 'Somebody', which I feel the same way and worse about (if you watched it, you would know what I'm talking about).

Now, another bothersome plot point about this movie is the fact that the killer is always smarter than everyone and can anticipate every move, action, and thought from his victims, making it impossible for them to ever escape their fate. But then again, this wouldn't be so irksome if the writers provided the psychopath with at least a reason to kill or an explanation as to why he's doing what he's doing and why he's so good at it. In this drama, however, we don't even have a name for our killer, which wouldn't be that much of a problem if we at least had any type of information about his background or what he did before the movie started rolling. The only thing that we know is that he impersonated the detective's son and wanted to frame him for his murders. But why? Why did he start impersonating this man? How did they meet? Why was the detective so mad at his son? Why do the writers give us information about the detective's wife and their family situation in general, when it won't even be resolved or explained, or even shown what the link between all this is? The killer wasn't even actually the detective's son, so why do we even need to know this, when we won't know who our killer is or what his reasons are at all? Who did the killer have a grudge against to be going around doing all this, to begin with? There's absolutely no explanation for anything ever and the more I think about this movie, the more questions pop up in my head that will never be answered.

Moving onto the female characters, this is probably what makes me the most upset. The female lead had her phone hacked and discovered it, but the first thing she does is blame her best friend after consulting a man that she met two days ago, and against whom her father warned her. It's kind of annoying how she dismissed the very reasonable concerns of her dad, but I won't even get into that. What I will question, though, is, why do you live in a house without a code? Why does your best friend scare you about having someone breaking into your house? Why do you believe a man you met two days ago over your best friend since middle school? Why does your best friend get immediately upset with you and decide to cut contact with you for a misunderstanding you had in a moment of extreme distress after your life was literally ruined by some psychopath? I don't understand why they made their friendship so shallow and ridiculous that you would decide to cut contact with your friend. Yes, I would also be absolutely hurt if my best friend suspected me of pulling such a horrible thing on her, but to go beyond that and warn her to never contact me again, and leave her all on her own to deal with such a dangerous situation... It pisses me off to think that these writers think women would do that.

Also, after the female lead finds out that her phone was hacked, she simply decides to keep using it as if nothing was happening. Girl, the first thing you needed to do was throw it away. At least she came up with a reverse strategy eventually, but I just kept thinking about why she simply decided to keep using her phone after everything that was happening to her.

These dramas and movies written by men about psychopathic serial killers that outsmart their victims all the time, and in which said victims are the dumbest people you'll ever see really gives me an unsettling feeling considering the incredibly high rates of this type of murder in South Korea.

Overall, this isn't the worst movie you'll ever watch, but it's only a movie to watch if you don't have anything else to do and if you don't feel like watching a complicated story. Don't let the thriller tag deceive you into thinking you're down for an actually good psychological thriller because you are really not.

At least Siwan did amazingly as expected, and Chun Woohee was a very good actress. In general, the cast is pretty good and there are many familiar faces if you watch a lot of kdramas, but other than that, this movie is very weak and not really worth your time.

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Worth your time

Is it an exceptional movie? Not really. But was it worth my time? yes! Everyone has their own taste and so my review is obviously more subjective than objective. But I'm here to share what I felt after watching the movie.

Usually these types of films are more centered around the criminal's life and his reasonings and what not. While we want the victim to survive, what really keeps the audience locked in is often the story of the psychopath. This film took up the challenge of doing the reverse. While Im Siwan plays an important character there's really nothing we understand of his character. While it can be a put off to some viewers, I really liked the fact that they tried to take the rare route with this film. The story is truly victim centered as we learn a lot about Chun Woohee's character and her environment. And due to this, it is her story and her story alone. No other victims of his is discussed in detail, as his crimes and his story is deemed as unworthy of screen time by the crew. And personally, I commend their choice. It is very risky as most audience who come to watch films like this have expectations, and this film will be unsatisfying to such people. But I am glad they took that gamble because I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The social criticism is also very relevant, but a lot subtler than expected. It does not give in-the-face preachy messages about how our generation is too dependent on smartphones. Rather it highlights how with the growth of social media and technology we have lost physical presence. We forget to check up on people closest to us and resort to think 'they must be doing well, they posted something the other day.' My only criticism would be that the final scenes felt a little too rushed. Apart from that I'm very satisfied and it left me contemplating about how heavily I rely on my devices. Where is the borderline? It's for each of us to decide for ourselves.

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good thriller, unnecessary social commentary

smartphone bad, mkay?
except most people don't spend their entire lives on smartphones like female lead did. the worst thing that could happen to most of us would be leaking our bank account and losing our savings, and that's only if we're using a bank app on the phone.

But social commentary aside, the movie is pretty good. The direction and cinematography is amazing and the feel is what you'd expect of the dark thriller/horror. Tension is almost always high, the pace is fast, and the music and color palette is appropriately dark.

That being said, predicting what's gonna happen next got a bit easy at the end of the movie, and it's a bit of a letdown we didn't learn more about the killer: the guy was very charismatic and frankly speaking I rooted for him more than the detective or fl. Oh well, guess this leaves an option of making a headcanon that he's the mc of strangers from hell several years later or something.

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Potential fully Unlocked

This is the most frightening and most tragic Korean crime thriller ever released since the movie "Midnight" that came out in 2021, but this villain is wielding a freaking smartphone as an invincible weapon instead of a traditional axe. First off the cinematography and soundtrack is really futuristic, almost like a high tech dystopian world which corrupts digitally. The main innovation of this movie will be its storyline, the headlining villain is skillfully designed as a tech mastermind, Im Siwan's performance here is absolutely mind boggling as he went berserk while hunting for his prey with technology. As if that wasn't insane enough, the ending reveals something much bigger that is ultimately mind blowing and everything turns into maximum monstrosity for every character in the movie.

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Whatever cautionary tale it tries to present, you cannot focus on that aspect - you keep getting distracted with how dumb the characters are. Not to mention, the lack of realism completely ruined the poor attempt of “social commentary”.

Female lead was dumb, the police were dumb, the friend was dumb, even the villain was dumb - don’t let people fool you into thinking it’s some tight cat and mouse chase with a brilliant killer who outsmarts everyone. It’s not hard to outsmart idiots. It does not make him a genius.

What’s good? Acting and editing, some directing choices. I liked the shots presenting the world from the eyes of the phone user, and then from the angle of the camera. We never really think about how much our phones see, as we assume the camera is off. So it’s creepy to see how much one could spy on us, if they had the access to the camera itself. Overall, there were many pretty shots, they knew how to make it visually interesting.

As a side note about the “social commentary” - I am so tired of this “phones are dangerous, be careful how you use them” topics. How about showing what the true issue is: lack of laws and procedures when the cyber crime happens, lack of police involvement when the crime is being reported, worst case - ignoring the reported crime because “nothing can be done”. Criticizing the government and police for the lack of protection of the citizens should be the focus, not “people use phones in irresponsible ways and depend on them too much”.

Overall, what a waste of time, even for Im Si Wan fans.

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A movie that makes you feel like you're in danger

Directed by Kim Tae-joon, Unlocked is a South Korean thriller starring Chun Woo-hee , Park Ho-San, and Yim Si-wan. The movie is new to Netflix from today, and is a decent little techno thriller which looks at stalking in the modern age.

The film sets up the idea that anyone can become a victim of digital surveillance, it is merely a case of momentarily dropping your guard. And then once someone gets inside your phone, they can get inside your life, and use your information however they see fit.

There is a little more to the film than just a bit of online stalking, as Unlocked also includes a police investigation, which plays in the background of the film. The two plot threads are of course connected, demonstrating just how deep and frightening this type of situation can be.

Director Kim Tae-joon has good grip on the material in this picture, and taps into the reality of the world we are currently living in. We have all become too reliant on technology, with most of us guilty of handing over a bit too much information online, and his film demonstrates the worrying side of all this.

He then backs this all up with a great cast, some strong shots, a fairly even tone, and a good soundtrack. Unlocked isn’t amazing, but it is pretty solid, and finds way to inject some thrills, a touch of paranoia, and plenty of drama into the story.

Unlocked may not rock everyone’s world, but it makes for a fine watch. There are some interesting ideas in here about hacking, spyware, and cyber-stalking, and it offers just enough story to make it all work.

You probably won’t come away thinking this is the best thriller you have ever seen, but you may have second thoughts about uploading so much information online. You may also consider super-gluing your phone to your hand, to deter anyone from trying to access it.

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Thriller timide malgré un solide casting

Unlocked n'offre pas de nouveautés tant sur ses personnages que son intrigue.
Basé sur le roman japonais de Akira Shiga (que je n'ai pas lu ce sera donc un avis sur le film uniquement), il manque de corps et de matière pour devenir haletant et palpitant à souhait.

Malgré un solide casting, il reste une flamme timide qui peine à se démarquer du reste.
Tout d'abord, Im Si Wan en tant que Oh Jun Yeong, le tueur. Je n'ai jamais caché mon affection pour cet acteur et j'attends toujours avec impatience ses nouveaux projets. S'il reste brillant dans son interprétation, son personnage devient vite fade. On est sur le portrait type du tueur méthodique dépourvu d'empathie et cultivant le silence comme un mort (oui, j'ose la faire celle-ci). Parfois, on le fait passer pour un fou. Une idée qui aurait pu fonctionner, mais qui est mal amenée et perd donc de son intérêt. D'une certaine façon, c'était plus facile de mettre ses actions sur le compte de la folie plutôt que de lui donner un réel fond.
Ensuite, Chun Woo Hee en tant que Lee Na Mi. C'est une belle jeune femme qui aime passer du temps avec ses amies, elle travaille dure et utilise son smartphone en permanence. On nous dresse rapidement un portrait simple, mais efficace. Pourtant, c'est un personnage qui ne semble rien tirer de ses mésaventures. Peu importe le nombre d'ennuis qu'elle connaît, elle ne se remet pas en question. Si on peut se prendre d'affection pour elle, on change vite d'avis. Comme la majorité des caractères du film, elle manque aussi de profondeur et caractère.
Pour finir, Kim Hee Won dans la peau de Woo Ji Man. Là aussi, on prend peu de risque avec le cliché du détective qui s'implique corps et âme dans une affaire afin d'oublier la culpabilité qui le ronge.
En réalité, l'ensemble du casting est très bon, les personnages le sont moins.

Unlocked n'est pas mauvais, mais il ne sort pas des sentiers battus. S'il possède tous les codes du thriller, il ne prend aucun risque ce qui ne le rend ni haletant ni stressant. Cependant, il aura le mérite de rappeler les dangers que peuvent avoir le numérique lorsqu'on s'y attend le moins.

(et ok, j'aime voir Im Si Wan, mais est-ce un argument valable ? Ahah)

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Keep you phone in bag and not hand.

It's centered around the aspect that mobiles have become way too essential in our lives than imagined. UNLOCKED, is a gripping and thought-provoking movie about being overly invested in smartphones these days. While this is not the first movie to undertake the subject, it did a good job of delivering a realistic wake-up call about the dangers of social media without any sugarcoating.
A woman loses her phone on a bus and her life gets worse as it gets hacked. The plot is simple yet engaging throughout. The plot is predictable cause we see through the eyes of the hacker, about his next movie. But the ending is satisfying, I thought it would be a lot worse but thankfully not.

I loved the movie's cinematography, the camera angles, the relationships between the characters, the depth of the storyline, to the suspenseful moments that made me feel emotions as if I was the one going through it.
This movie should be watched by everyone not just for the thrill of the movie but for most important awareness of how careful you should be with your phones. Not because someone will stalk you with the phone, but because scams and fraud could happen too.

And those of you who believed it is over-exaggeration or unreal, it may be dramatized but I have seen real cases. Better safe than searching for a cure
1. My phone got hacked and lost a few bucks.
2. A girl's laptop was hacked at my university and they could see her through her camera. She later told everyone to put up a sticky note over the camera if not in use.

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Creepy cautionary tale about smartphone power, quite thrilling despite some scenario flaws

I liked a lot this thriller about a woman stalked through her smartphone. It is clearly a creepy cautionary tale about the power that have smartphone upon the life of most people and how dangerous it is when somebody get a hold on your personal data and what you do on internet.

The premise is really interesting and I wish they would have taken the societal criticism even deeper. It remains pretty on surface of what it is trying to say about society as the scenario put the focus much more on the villain than on the social dynamics. I loved the pacing of the story in its first half, you can feel the anxiety crippling as the heroine gets deeper into the trap set for her. However, I think the second half of the story could have benefited from a better rhythm. It was thrilling but some actions taken by the characters lacked logic.

I found the acting solid: especially Yim Si Wan who does a really commendable job carrying the plot. I'm pretty sure that with a less gifted actor, the scenario would have felt much flatter. He brought a huge range of emotions to his part, making the character he played complex and multi-layered despite the scenario being quite open and vague regarding his motivations. It is my first time watching him in a main role and I will be for sure digging into his filmography for more. Similarly, I'm quite impressed by Chun Woo Hee acting. I thought she acted beyond what the scenario was offering her.

The production was good. I particularly enjoyed the opening sequence with the phone being the window into the life of the heroine. It was super efficient into conveying the point of the movie. The music did not left a lasting impression on me but was appropriate for the angsty thematic.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a thriller supported by good acting. It is pretty horrific in some way as it is centered around a very prominent feature in most humans modern life: the smartphones. It is a quite violent movie, so be mindful if you have any trigger.

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a boring psa of the dangers of technology

i did not hate unlocked (2023) but i was definitely bored. the whole plot is a little too on the nose for me and even reinstates this message quite a few times throughout the movie.

while the movie fell flat for me, two things stood out- the production quality and si wan's performance. the opening sequence is mwah so beautiful. i really enjoyed a lot of the cinematography and how some of the shots and blocking are pretty dynamic. si wan is GREAT here. if only the story was there to back him up.

the first hour is better in terms of pacing and story than the last hour, but si wan appears more in the last. maybe you can watch this movie in the background but don't make it a priority.

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