Reviews

Need the smooth ending.

The story was good, with an ending that could have been better. I didn't see any plot twists in this movie, after all the mess was made by the rich. Well, when I watched this movie, I still hope that the twist or any thrilling part came from the residents.
But the suspenseful part were so great, that part of the movie when the No Woo-seong was in the police station and chaos happened not only to him but also to the (idk how to say, bitcoin things?) thing that he was playing with his friend. Wiped out, nothing left. Only poverty was all he has.

In conclusion, the movie was good to watch. It was thrilling, as from the trailer. Since I'm not a typical of audience who'll rewatch the movie, I gave the low point for the "rewatch value". All casts were good actor and their acting is beyond doubt, legit!

With all due respect, 8.5/10 for Wall to Wall🎩

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A cute movie but it was just okay.

Kind of movie that can heal the audience!

The old youth story about a stereotype that a girl who has curly hair is not pretty and doesn't deserve a percent of love. Well, even after all the girl caught someone's heart by her kindness.

The plot was good enough, but it wasn't what I imagined and shown from the trailer. I thought Park Se-ri would keep fighting to win her crush's heart, but everything stopped halfway through the story. The same goes for the love story between Park Se-ri and Han Yun-seok. The ending of the story seems like ended so hastily, and oddly enough, there was no awkwardness between Park Se-ri and Han Yun-seok after they were apart for not in a short time. They didn't clarify what happened to each other, especially Han Yun-seok who didn't come back to Busan after he visited her mom in Seoul.

But overall, the movie heals me & was cute to watch!♡
The casts acted very well✧

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"I see me in them"

What happens when a high school girl tries desperately to fit in with the cool girls and everything goes awry? Second Life gives Seon Hee a second chance, but will she learn to accept herself and take responsibility for her actions?

Seon Hee’s parents are either arguing or so involved in their own lives that she is merely a second thought. Shy, and lacking confidence she looks on with envy when Jeong Mi’s friends celebrate her birthday at school. Seon Hee goes to great lengths to find a way into their group. Her constant lying to fit in is obvious to the girls who decide to reject her. When Seon Hee takes revenge, tragedy strikes. She runs away and starts a second life in a rural village orphanage. Life seems to be taking a turn for the better, if only her past could stay hidden.

The beautiful scenery, cinematography, and score were all well done. The acting, however, was very hit and miss. I thought the story’s concept was interesting yet it ultimately left me unfulfilled. High school is a tough place for shy students, especially ones desperate for attention and acceptance. One lie can lead to another, until those lies are inevitably revealed. Even worse are the lies we tell ourselves. Actions born out of revenge can also have unexpected consequences. Seon Hee found that there are people who will accept you for yourself. But growing up and learning to take responsibility for your actions isn’t easy and doesn’t happen overnight…or maybe ever.

11 September 2025

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Great cast, horrible story

Watched it at TIFF 50 last night!

Interesting concept, but horrible execution. Cinematography was pretty, opening scene was promising.

Aside from that, everything else, mainly story was lacklustre. It moved scene to scene with no clear character motivation. A character was introduced half way through the movie and somehow played a major role in the characters motivations when there was not set up. Characters were 2 dimensional and cartoonish in their writing. Lot of aura farming without much aura. Character writing overall didn’t make sense and you couldn’t really understand why each character was doing what they were doing.

Music was okay, did its job but at times was too in your face. The sad moments felt forced because immediately there would be sad piano playing, didn’t have room to breath.

Overall, I wish the writing was better, the two actress’ in the leads were promising, but I wish it was a better movie.

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Not an action movie, more about people just trying to survive

Project Y is ambiguous even from its title; it's hard to tell what kind of movie it will be. What's the "project"? What's "Y"?

I went into the screening at the Toronto International Film Festival without watching any promotional material, so I didn't have any preconceptions about the movie before it began.

I did, however, have some expectations based on previous roles played by Jeon Jong Seo (Ballerina) and Han So Hee (My Name). That being said, Project Y is definitely not a true high-voltage action movie in the traditional sense. You might be disappointed if that's what you were expecting. I won't speak too much on the plot of the actual movie itself, since it hasn't been officially released outside of TIFF.

The music and cinematography was top-notch. Ultimately, the story flowed well and I was immersed in the seedy underworld that was built for our ladies to escape from. Some plot elements meant to add more color to Mi-Seon's and Do-Gyeong's lives did feel a bit rushed. Furthermore, by the end of the movie, I did leave wondering to myself, if that was a satisfactory resolution to the struggle that I was watching for the last 2 hours. You'll have to decide that for yourself when you watch the movie.

Ultimately, it was nice to see these two lovely ladies starring in a film together. It wasn't totally what I was expecting, but it was a decent film, nonetheless.

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"I'm a public hand grenade"

Honest Candidate gave Ra Mi Ran a chance to shine as a lying politician suddenly cursed with the inability to tell a lie during the final days of a campaign.

Ju Sang Suk appears to be an honest politician who honors her dead philanthropic grandmother at every turn. All is not as it seems in her familial paradise. Ju is intwined with corrupt officials who are all making a killing from her time in office. After a special prayer is offered up for her, Ju finds the truth spilling from her lips in every situation she is in, threatening not only her political career but also her freedom.

Honest Candidate was based on a Brazilian film which was itself adapted from the 1997 film Liar, Liar starring Jim Carrey. Instead of a lawyer, HC revolved around the occupation with the one of the highest percentages of liars---politicians. Ra Mi Ran gave a charming and comedic performance as Ju Sang Suk’s truths at first entertain the voters, coming across as a breath of fresh air. As Ju’s skeletons or lack of a skeleton were revealed, Ju found herself painted into a corner. Ra dialed up the emotional nuance as the curse forced Ju to face how far she’d fallen and whether or not she could salvage her career. Kim Mu Yeol made for a loyal Man Friday who believed in Ju’s abilities and career even more than she did. And always reliable halmeoni Na Moon Hee could once again be counted on to not phone her performance in. Ok Hee was the heart of a story filled with money hungry, unethical people. She also had a savage “bird.” It was disappointing that Ju’s husband and son weren’t particularly likeable or invested in her returning to her earlier ethical ways.

Honest Candidate was entertaining and had many funny moments but didn’t draw me in as much as I would have liked it to. Perhaps it was too close to Liar, Liar’s gimmick or maybe it was because Ju’s actions in the earlier part of the film were blatantly corrupt and selfish. I do love a redemption story and while I’m not sure she earned it, I will nearly always root for a person to acknowledge their mistakes and work to overcome them. One thing for sure, regardless of who she is praying to, a loving grandmother’s prayer is a force to be reckoned with---don’t make yours mad!

10 September 2025

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Love Untangled: A Mess of Everything, but Special in Nothing

Sorry guys, I don’t know about others’ opinions, but I honestly expected it to give “Lovely Runner” school vibes or even something like “20th Century Girl.” Sadly, it was nothing like that, and I was totally disappointed.
It felt like the makers tried to pack in everything—love, friendship, love triangle, school life, college life—all at once, which made it feel messy. I especially felt bad for the second ML. If the FL already realized her heart was with the first ML, then why go as far as calling the second ML out for a proposal? She could’ve just dropped the plan.
Honestly, I lost interest halfway through, and the movie just didn’t feel special to me. 😞

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Great action film: visually breathtaking, brutal, and explosively message-driven

Watch this if you:
• love excellent wartime action and spell-binding cinematography
• want to see some underwater wire fu
• are up for epic statements about inhumanity and war
• are willing to go with iconic characters and broad symbolism
• want to see Zhu Yi Long’s amazing acting and 9.5% body fat abs
• want to witness the cinematic messaging power of Wu Lei as icon of goodness and see his amazing acting
• want to watch Ni Ni act like a boss and embody change
• are curious about why “propaganda” is not an insult in the Chinese filmmaking industry

Don’t watch this if you:
• can't watch brutal violence
• prefer realism and naturalistic character development over powerful message delivery
• are never okay with demonizing villains
• are sadly insensitive to the awesomeness of Ni Ni, Zhu Yi Long and Wu Lei.
• always judge a film by the same standards as those of Oscars voters
• think “propaganda” is only and always a bad thing

This is a powerful action movie that made me cry buckets. It's all these things:

A stunning visual encounter with the ocean

A searing portrayal of a heinous war crime

An enraged condemnation of Japanese actions during World War II

A grueling and emotionally devastating experience

A hymn to the spirit of humanity

After seeing it, I needed a few days to move out of the loss and sadness.

A week or so later, I started getting curious about where Dongji Island's filmmaking style fits in Chinese filmmaking history. Because it's quite strongly message-driven. I mean, I usually notice political content in films and tv shows, whether that content is the cultural stance of the moment in Hollywood products or nationalistic moments in cdramas. And after some preliminary internet searching, I learned that being propaganda is not a movie flaw in China the way it would be in my country. It seems like within Chinese filmmaking, propaganda can be art.

Anyway, in my opinion, Dongji Island has elements of extremely well made propaganda, but overall it's simply excellent.

Because of its propaganda elements, though, I don't have much hope for it to become popular in the West. Like, I think Oscars voters, for example, go for stories that run on realism, psychological growth and complexity, and they privilege the individual. Dongji Island is fueled more by the power of the message than it is by psychological arcs. While its characters have individuality and uniqueness, their symbolic weight is emphasized. And the movie puts the individual within the collective.

What’s stayed with me the most are not only the deep emotional impact and the amazing visuals, but also the performances. Besides the leads, Wu Lei, Zhu Yi Long, and Ni Ni, who are all wonderful, I keep remembering moments from supporting actors, especially Chen Ming Hao, Ni Da Hong and Yang Hao Yu.

I’m really grateful for the limited American release, because I was able to see this on the wide screen! The lowest score I gave it was for rewatch value, because I would have to take a lot of deep breaths before I walked into a theater to see this a second time. But it will remain with me from just the one experience.

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Goofy charm

Second time through and I found the love story which develops especially touching. Which was probably half being distracted by the fun surprises and humour the first time through and half starting it far too late (only meant to peek in, really, and how is it past midnight already =)). It's gone up in my estimation now. It's light, sweet and silly, and moving. The ghosts aren't scary, the cameos are entertaining (Pompam's expression), and it does that lovely thing of a two hour Thai movie where it takes its time to explore its world before revealing its layers, with a story grounded in emotion more than events.

It was perfect for a day when I needed a break from both reality and fictional drama, like a wee holiday.

This is very much one to watch without western expectations and just let it take you along as it reveals its world.

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if you want a drama thay feels real.

Here’s your text with grammar, flow, and clarity polished up while keeping your original tone:


---

To be honest, I accidentally clicked on this one and almost stopped watching at the start. I thought it looked a bit too indie and slow for me to get into. Luckily, I had nothing else to do, so I let it play in the background. Pretty quickly, I was swept up in the emotions of the film. It was so refreshing to watch a drama that didn’t feel overly scripted or follow the same old narrative. I guess it has a bit of an enemies-to-lovers vibe, but not quite.

I love how raw and rough around the edges it was, and how it started small. You really see how each emotional roadblock came about along the way. From being completely closed off due to a life of trauma, to slowly opening up and letting someone in. To wanting to break from the past and just be someone else. I could go on and on, but I’ll just say I highly recommend it if you’re looking for an emotional journey.

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