Wall to Wall

Brilliant Performance, Broken Film

The first half is excellent, turning housing anxiety into something suffocating and paranoid. Every creak and bang feels like an assault, and the film nails the claustrophobia of financial ruin and social isolation. But as U Sung’s desperation escalates, the film starts piling on conspiracies, tech twists, and bursts of violence that feel more like escalation for escalation’s sake. What begins as a tight, psychological spiral gradually loses its focus, dragging itself to an underwhelming finish.

Kang Ha-neul is mesmerizing as U Sung. His slow unraveling feels painfully authentic, balancing fragile panic with awkward humor that makes him oddly endearing even at his worst. Yeom Hye-ran steals every scene as the building’s residents’ representative, her polite veneer barely masking classist disdain. Her presence adds a biting layer to the film’s commentary on debt, alienation, and the quiet war between owners and renters.

In essence, "Wall To Wall" remains worth a watch for Kang Ha-neul’s performance alone. The film sparks with moments of brilliance, but too many short circuits keep it from truly lighting up.


SIDENOTE:

Inter-floor noise isn’t just a mild annoyance but a serious issue in Korea, where most people live in high-rise apartments with thin walls. Everyday sounds like kids running, furniture dragging, or late-night washing machines can feel unbearable, leading to frequent disputes between neighbors. Complaints about floor noise have exploded over the past decade, jumping from just under 9,000 cases in 2012 to more than 33,000 formal complaints by 2024. The mediation centers meant to handle these disputes are swamped, and most cases take months to resolve, with only a small fraction ending in genuine reconciliation. Surveys show that nearly nine out of ten residents admit to feeling constant irritation because of their neighbors’ noise, and more than half have argued or fought over it at least once.

What makes this worse is how often it turns violent. Police data shows a shocking rise in serious crimes tied to floor-noise disputes, with incidents jumping from 11 reported cases in 2016 to 110 by 2021. Some of these confrontations have ended in tragedy, where families were attacked in their own homes, arson incidents sparked by months of simmering resentment, and fatal stabbings triggered by nothing more than footsteps overhead. In one infamous case in 2022, a man in Incheon stabbed an entire family after enduring three months of what he called “torturous” noise from above.

The government has tried to intervene, enforcing strict decibel limits (43 dB during the day, 38 at night) and requiring newer apartments to use thicker slabs and better insulation. In theory, no apartment should pass inspection if noise exceeds 49 dB. But in practice, enforcement is weak, and older buildings, where most of these disputes happen, are rarely retrofitted with better soundproofing. Even in brand-new apartments, residents still report constant thumping, dragging, and muffled conversations. For Koreans, this isn’t just an inconvenience, but is a social wound.

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Thrilling Ride, Flat Ending

Living in a flat in a city, experiencing an existential midlife crisis and realizing you bit more than you can chew and now neck deep in sh*t, this drama hits so close to home that at first it was so painful to watch.

I can totally see myself in how the main character was written - at a time when you realized the life you dreamt of isnt exactly working out the way you planned and you're hanging on to dear life and barely moving forward using the faintest remains of fumes in the barrel that you can almost feel that all the walls are closing in (or have already). This is a very realistic portrayal of an insipid life played perfectly and strongly by Kang Ha Neul.

The story and the character may be boring on paper but the execution sure isnt. One by one the plot thickens with every character introduced and keeps you guessing about their motives. The whole first part I was even thinking that No U Sung is just going through a breakdown and is the real person causing the disturbance in the building. Just when he was pushed to his limit and ready to give up, thats when the real plot started to reveal itself.

For me the only weak part of this drama is that the ending is just as insignificant as No U Sung's life. I would have appreciated it more if they at least tied it with a yellow ribbon in the end just to give us a light feeling after watching it.

Also, Ive got to say that this is the reason why I keep Netflix subscription - because of their widest collection of content and the constant new releases every week. Some of them maybe worthless, but some like this onecan surprise you - new movies and series with 0 extra cost.

Overall, for me its an 8.

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