Press-Screening Reactions: Cineplay Reporters Rate 〈Bi-gwang〉

The craftsmanship is solid. The problem is pacing. From start to finish the film piles one tragedy on top of another, leaving no room to breathe. By the time it reaches the climax, many viewers may be ready to tune out. And in an era of one-person media, the immediate reaction is to ask, "Why?" and "How?" A variety of strong elements fail to cohere and instead scatter.

It's a film, and a rare one at that, steeped in thick, visceral emotion. Director Lee Ji-won expands on the surrogate-family thread from her previous film 〈Miss Baek〉 (2018), weaving it together with the greed and downfall of politics and show business depicted in the ENA drama 〈Climax〉. The film explores not only the relationship among Jung-gu (Ryu Seung-ryong), Nam-mi (Ha Ji-won) and Dong-ju (Kim Si-a), but also Nam-mi's ties with Ki-sik (Kim Hae-sook) and Ji-sook (Kim Sun-young), portraying various surrogate families that help one another. There is also pleasure in watching Ryu Seung-ryong, Ha Ji-won and Kim Si-a navigate a world as damp and musty as faded wallpaper. However, the central mystery surrounding the death at the film's center and the larger theme of surrogate-family solidarity don't fully cohere.