The Call (2020 South Korean film)

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The Call (2020 South Korean film)

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The CallHangulRevised RomanizationDirected byWritten byBased onProduced byStarringCinematographyEdited byMusic byProduction
companyDistributed byRelease dateRunning timeCountryLanguage

Promotional poster

콜

Kol

Lee Chung-hyun

Lee Chung-hyun

The Caller
by Sergio Casci

Syd Lim
Jeong Hui-sun

• Park Shin-hye
• Jeon Jong-seo
• Kim Sung-ryung
• Lee El

Jo Young-jik

Yang Jin-mo

Dalpalan

Yong Film

Next Entertainment World
Netflix

• November 27, 2020

112 minutes

South Korea

Korean

The Call (Korean: 콜; RR: Kol), is a 2020 South Korean thriller film directed by Lee Chung-hyun, starring Park Shin-hye and Jeon Jong-seo. Based on the 2011 British and Puerto Rican film The Caller, The Call revolves around Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) and Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo), two women from different times who connect through a phone call which interchanges their fates. The film was originally going to be released theatrically but cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] It was released on Netflix globally on November 27, 2020.[1]

Contents

• 1Plot
• 2Cast
• 3Production
• 4Reception
• 5Awards and nominations
• 6References
• 7External links

Plot[edit]

In 2019, 28-year-old Kim Seo-yeon loses her cellphone while traveling to visit her sick, estranged mother in a rural area. Arriving at her rundown childhood home, she finds a decades-old cordless phone, and through it receives calls from a distressed woman who says she's being tortured by her mother. After investigating the house, Seo-yeon figures out that the woman on the phone, Oh Young-sook, is living in the same house but in 1999. The two are able to communicate across time through the phone, and exchange information about their lives. Young-sook is orphaned and lives with her adoptive mother, who is a shaman, while Seo-yeon lost her father in a fire that she blames her mother, Eun-ae, for.

Young-sook, acting on information from Seo-yeon, sneaks out of the house to prevent the fire that killed Seo-yeon's father. She is successful, and Seo-yeon's reality changes: her parents are both alive and healthy, and their house lavish. Young-sook, however, is punished by her mother, and becomes resentful that Seo-yeon's life is improved while hers is the same.

Seo-yeon searches the internet and learns that Young-sook was killed by her mother during an exorcism. During the next phone call, Seo-yeon warns Young-sook, who saves herself and kills her mother instead. Now freed, Young-sook becomes a serial killer. Seo-yeon realizes what has happened when Young-sook's victims disappear in the present day. During a phone call, Seo-yeon confronts Young-sook, but inadvertently reveals to her that she'll be arrested.

In 1999, Young-sook is visited by an 8-year-old Seo-yeon and her father, who have come to the house to close their purchase of it. Young-sook kills Seo-yeon's father and takes young Seo-yeon captive. In 2019, Seo-yeon's reality changes again: her father is dead and the house in even worse condition. Young-sook calls Seo-yeon and tells her to find out how she'll be arrested. At first Seo-yeon feeds Young-sook false info, but when Young-sook threatens to kill Eun-ae next, Seo-yeon breaks into the local police station for the notebook used in 1999. Young-sook taunts Seo-yeon that they're the same when she reveals that Seo-yeon caused the fire that originally killed her father, and lied about Eun-ae being responsible.

Seo-yeon gives Young-sook the correct info, and her reality changes again: the house is now owned by an older Young-sook, who has continued as a serial killer. The content of the notebook changes as well, with a note that Eun-ae came to the house with a police officer and made a call on the cordless phone. Seo-yeon waits in the house for the call and uses it to warn Eun-ae.

In 1999, Young-sook kills the police officer and chases Eun-ae. In 2019, older Young-sook reveals herself and similarly chases Seo-yeon. Eun-ae uses the phone again, and Seo-yeon picks up and encourages her to fight. Eun-ae seemingly sacrifices herself to kill Young-sook, and 2019 changes, with the house becoming derelict and old Young-sook disappearing. Seo-yeon leaves the house and is reunited with Eun-ae, who is alive and well, albeit with scars.

In a mid-credits scene, older Young-sook called her younger counterpart to warn her about Eun-ae and the police officer arriving, allowing Young-sook to alter her own history, resulting in the erasing of Eun-ae from present day Seo-yeon's side. The scene then cuts to the torture room where a person tied to a chair and covered in a white cloth is screaming for help. The cloth is removed, revealing a frightened adult Seo-yeon, once again a captive of Young-sook.

Cast[edit]

• Park Shin-hye as Kim Seo-yeon[2]
• Jeon Jong-seo as Oh Young-sook[3]
• Kim Sung-ryung as Eun-ae, Seo-yeon's mother.
• Lee El as Ja-ok, Young-sook's mother
• Oh Jung-se as Seong-ho
• Lee Dong-hwi as Baek Mi-hyun
• Park Ho-san as Mr. Kim (Seo-yeon's father)
• Park Hyung-soo as Man-voice
• Kim Min-ha as Young Seon-hee

Production[edit]

Principal photography began on January 3, 2019, and wrapped on April 2, 2019.[4]

Reception[edit]

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[5]

Awards and nominations[edit]

YearAwardsCategoryRecipientResultRef.

2021	57th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Actress (Film)	Jeon Jong-seo	Won	[6]
		Best New Director	Lee Chung-hyun	Nominated
	30th Buil Film Awards			Nominated	[7][8]
		Best Actress	Jeon Jong-seo	Won
	15th Asian Film Awards	Best Actress		Nominated	[9][10]
	26th Chunsa Film Art Awards	Best Actress		Nominated	[11]
		Best New Director	Lee Chung-hyun	Nominated
	42nd Blue Dragon Film Awards			Nominated
		Best Actress	Jeon Jong-seo	Nominated
2022	20th Director's Cut Awards	Best Actress		Won
		Best New Actress		Nominated
		Best New Director	Lee Chung-hyun	Nominated

References[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to:a b Park, Sae-jin (October 20, 2020). "Thriller film starring actress Park Shin-hye to premiere on Netflix". Aju Business Daily. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
2. ^ "Park Shin-hye, Jeon Jong-seo Team up for New Thriller". The Chosun Ilbo. January 19, 2019.
3. ^ "영화계 블루칩 증명한 전종서, 두번째 꿰찬 주연은?" (in Korean). Daily Today. March 5, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
4. ^ "KoBiz - Korean Film Biz Zone". www.kobiz.or.kr (in Korean). Retrieved April 18, 2019.
5. ^ "The Call (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
6. ^ Kim Jin-seok and Jo Yeon-kyung (April 12, 2021). "57회 백상예술대상, TV·영화·연극 부문 최종 후보 공개". isplus.joins (in Korean). Retrieved April 12, 2021.
7. ^ Jo Young-mi (August 26, 2021). "'모가디슈' ·'자산어보' 13개 부문 중 8개 부문 후보에 올라" ['Mogadishu' and 'Jasaneobo' were nominated in 8 out of 13 categories]. Busan Ilbo (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
8. ^ "부문별 후보 소개" (Press release) (in Korean). Buil Film Awards. 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
9. ^ "The 15th Asian Film Awards Nominations Announced". Asian Film Awards Academy. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
10. ^ Souw, Rebecca; Frater, Patrick (October 8, 2021). "'Wife of a Spy' Wins Top Prize at Asian Film Awards". Variety. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
11. ^ Seong Ha- Hoon (July 5, 2021). "춘사영화제, 이번엔 온라인 개봉영화까지 품었다, 26회 춘사국제영화제 후보작 발표, <승리호> 조성희 감독도 후보에" [Chunsa Film Festival, this time also has online release, Nominations announced at the 26th Chunsa International Film Festival]. OhmyNews.

External links[edit]

• The Call at the Korean Movie Database
• The Call at IMDb
• The Call at HanCinema
• The Call at Naver (in Korean)
• The Call at Daum (in Korean)
• The Call on Netflix 
  

Categories: 

• 2020 films
• 2020 thriller films
• South Korean thriller films
• Films set in 1999
• Films set in 2019
• Films set in 2020
• South Korean remakes of foreign films
• Next Entertainment World films
• Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Korean-language Netflix original films