Wall to Wall: In the Sub-Basement

I'm all for a dark movie, even a grim one. But this Kim Tae-joon thriller is too depressing for me. When a corporate drone (Kang Ha-neul) who moonlights as a food deliveryperson gets buried under the debts associated with buying a Seoul apartment, the accumulation of bad luck, bad choices, and bad living overwhelmed me. By the time he got consumed by his greed around a shady online trade (for which he'd liquidated his mortgage), I had already checked out. I just couldn't handle any more bad news. I also didn't believe that his luck would turn around or if it did, that he'd be able to sustain it.

Additionally, I didn't care. And since this main character isn't sympathetic, what does it matter if he strikes it rich or ends up in the poorhouse. Who really cares if he was set up and someone had put a noise-making device installed in his apartment so that all the enraged neighbors would turn against him. Who cares if his phone screen is shattered and almost out of juice. At this point, I'm only halfway through the movie, and yes, I watched 'til the end. Because the midway point is when the suspense part kicks in. And despite the cards remaining stacked against the hero when things turn mysterious, Wall to Wall does become less of a downer. Because the weightlifting undercover reporter (Seo Hyun-woo) who lives upstairs and the former prosecutor (Yeom Hye-ran) who owns the penthouse have major problems of their own. Misery loves company, y'know.

Unlocked: Personal Hangups

Anyone who has lost their phone knows that such a misfortune can seem like the end the world. In the case of Unlocked's Nami (Chun Woo-hee), such a supposition might not be a gross exaggeration. Because the creep (Yim Si-wan) who has recovered her missing phone is a hyperskilled hacker. And an identity thief. And a serial killer. Soon enough, this triple-threat of death is making our heroine's life a living hell — poisoning her career, kidnapping her dad (Park Ho-san), and alienating her best friend (Kim Ye-won). What's working in her favor is a detective (Kim Hee-won) who quickly surmises who the killer is; what's working against her is this same detective may be the father of the maniacal cyberstalker.

Once she realizes her phone is at the root of all her problems, does she get a new one or at least stop using her cell so often? Not immediately. As a typical member of Generation Z, she's way too invested in Instagram and Instant Messaging to put her device down for more than a Seoul minute. Which makes spying on her so much easier. Especially when the spyware expert she chooses to hire turns out to be ... the serial killer again! Yes, Unlocked has plenty of coincidences. And yes, we're asked to overlook some major narrative holes. Like a second police officer (Jeon Jin-oh) who, despite recognizing what's going on, defers to his partner's faulty judgment over and over again. But Kim Tae-joon's technothriller has such a timely conceit at its center that you'll likely be experiencing anxiety for the full two hours, regardless of its lapses in logic.