midnight 2021 movie review

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Midnight videos, midnight photos.

A serial killer, (Squid Game star, Wi Ha-Jun), ruthlessly hunts down a deaf woman through the streets of South Korea after she witnesses his brutal crime.

Genre: Mystery & thriller

Original Language: Korean

Director: Kwon Oh-seung

Producer: Kim Hyun-woo

Writer: Kwon Oh-seung

Release Date (Theaters): Apr 1, 2022 limited

Release Date (Streaming): Apr 5, 2022

Runtime: 1h 43m

Distributor: Dread

Production Co: Peppermint & Company

Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Cast & Crew

Gil Hae-yeon

Kyung-mi's Mother

Kim Hye-yoon

Jeong Won-chang

Police Officer 3

Eun-Woo Bae

Min-woo Choi

Office Worker

Kwon Oh-seung

Screenwriter

Kim Hyun-woo

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User reviews

Jin Ki-joo and Wi Ha-joon in Midnight (2021)

A serial killer ruthlessly hunts down a deaf woman through the streets of South Korea after she witnesses his brutal crime. A serial killer ruthlessly hunts down a deaf woman through the streets of South Korea after she witnesses his brutal crime. A serial killer ruthlessly hunts down a deaf woman through the streets of South Korea after she witnesses his brutal crime.

Oh-Seung Kwon
117 User reviews
51 Critic reviews
1 win & 1 nomination

Jong Tak So Jung's older brother

(as Ki-joo Jin)
Office worker

Couple woman
Kyung Mi's mother
(as Hae-yeon Kil)

Jin Sang Nyeo [Call Center]
Industrial complex woman

(as Jang-yoo Lee)

All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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User reviews 117

kanifuker-84708
Aug 26, 2021
How long is Midnight? Powered by Alexa
April 5, 2022 (United States)
South Korea
Official site
Official site (Japan)
Peppermint & Company
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 43 minutes

More to explore

Midnight – Fantasia Review (3/5)

Posted by Nadja "HorrorDiva" Houmoller | Aug 22, 2021 | 4 minutes

MIDNIGHT i s a serial killer thriller from South Korea. A shorter runtime than usual but a brilliantly portrayed villain. Also, the main protagonist is a young deaf woman. We screened this at Fantasia 2021. Read our full Midnight movie review here!

MIDNIGHT i s a serial killer thriller from South Korea. In a somewhat unusual turn for South Korean genre productions, this movie has a runtime of just 1 hour and 43 minutes. More often than not, these movies have runtimes over two hours. Mostly due to a slow-burn style and a focus on character-driven stories.

LOOKING FOR SERIAL KILLER MOVIES? Check out our “serial killer” tag which covers both fiction and true crime here >

Continue reading our full Midnight movie review below. We screened this movie at Fantasia 2021 and it’s still playing at film festivals all over the world.

Being deaf in South Korea

I don’t know what it’s like to be deaf in this world. It’s my understanding that modern technology has made it easier in many ways since we communicate even more in writing or via screen instead of sound and voice. However, I’m not sure a deaf person would agree. Also, it appears being deaf in South Korea is very difficult.

Still, logic tells me that if you’ve grown up deaf (with a deaf parent to boot), you’ve learned how to handle yourself in a world of hearing people. That’s why I found myself increasingly irritated when the main protagonist – a younger deaf woman – continued to come across as helpless in even the most mundane situations.

At first, she was a tough girl who didn’t take any crap from her hearing bosses at a customer service center. Then she turned into this whiny and helpless person, which made no sense to me. Usually, South Korean movies excel at character portrayals.

For me, the story doesn’t do the young woman justice in the grand scope of things. Not even close! However, the issues about being a deaf person in South Korea were seemingly covered rather well.

Midnight has some misses but a brilliant villain!

This time around, the South Korean thriller felt like a subpar US thriller that wanted to create “drama and thrills” without any concern for the character arc of its main protagonist. There are scenes in this movie that are downright cringeworthy.

Oh, and I’m not just talking about the deaf characters. No, the hearing “heroes” are even worse. The villain, however?! One of the best I’ve seen in a long time. A classic villain to match some of the best from South Korean movies. And there are quite a few amazing villains to chose from!

The serial killer, Do Shik, is portrayed by Wi Ha-Joon and he is good. Like scary good! The way he can switch from coming across as charming and sweet to weak and harmless and then to the craziest serial killer psycho. It is absolutely brilliant in its elegance.

You may know Wi Ha-Joon from the horror movie Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018) .

We screened Midnight during Fantasia 2021

This is the feature film debut for writer and director Oh-Seung Kwon. There is a lot of potential, but this director should forget about the TV movie thrillers from the US and focus on emulating the brilliant genre productions from South Korea instead.

WANT TO WATCH MORE KOREAN MOVIES? Watch anything on our “must-see thrillers and horror movies from South Korea” list here >

Another thing that irked me while watching Midnight was the fact that while this movie did play out around (and mostly after) midnight, there were so many people just going around shopping in the main street. Is that really normal in South Korea? Not out drinking, dancing, or eating but just kind of hanging out around 2 AM?!

It just seemed strange and as a huge contrast when these scenes were intersected with our characters being in abandoned areas just minutes later. Just wanted to mention it, since it came across as being very strange. Also, the police officers in this film are portrayed as being completely useless. Almost comically so.

In any case, you should definitely watch this movie for its crazy and sinister serial killer character. Just prepare yourself for some irritating scenes along the way and you should be very well-entertained.

MIDNIGHT had a Canadian premiere at Fantasia 2021 where we screened it. It will be out in the US On Demand on April 5, 2022, and on Blu-ray on May 10, 2022.

DIRECTOR: Kwon Oh-seung WRITER: Kwon Oh-seung CAST: Jin Ki-Joo, Wi Ha-Jun, Gil Hae-Yeon, Park Hoon, Kim Hye-Yoon

A wave of murders hits the city. The media suspects foreign workers, but apart from speculation, there are no leads. After a longer-than-expected business meeting, Kyung-mi heads off to meet her mother, who is waiting for her at a remote location so that they can get together easily. Meanwhile, Kyung-mi is spied on by a mysterious masked man, who decides instead to follow a young woman, So-jung, who crosses paths with them. When Kyung-mi finally arrives at her meeting place, she sees So-jung bloody and asking for help. The problem is that she is deaf, just like her mother, and cannot call for help. Lurking in the shadows, the murderer, Do-sik, has just identified his new prey and sets off in pursuit. Her deafness makes her vulnerable, but she knows all the resources at her disposal and manages to escape to her mother. Knowing now the handicap of his future victim, Do-sik removes his mask and connects with them despite the presence of the police, patiently waiting for the opportunity to satisfy his murderous thirst.

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About The Author

Nadja "HorrorDiva" Houmoller

I usually keep up-to-date with all the horror news, and make sure Heaven of Horror share the best and latest trailers for upcoming horror movies. I love all kinds of horror. My love affair started when I watched 'Poltergeist' alone around the age of 10. I slept like a baby that night and I haven't stopped watching horror movies since. The crazy slasher stuff isn't really for me, but hey, to each their own. I guess I just like to be scared and get jump scares, more than being disgusted and laughing at the grotesque. Also, Korean and Spanish horror movies made within the past 10-15 years are among my absolute favorites.

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Midnight (2021) film review – a master class in building tension.

South Korean cinema has carved out an incredible niche releasing thrillers tinged with a deliciously dark tone. From brutal revenge-fueled classics like Old Boy to soul-destroying crime thrillers often focused on serial killers like I Saw the Devil , these films have made a noticed and beloved impact on the genre that is here to stay. Kwon Oh-seung’s debut feature Midnight is poised to stand as the next great entry in a long line of beloved thrillers. Written and directed by Oh-seung, the film makes for an incredible first outing that shows complete mastery of the subtle craft needed to carefully compose this style of movie. If you love its contemporaries, then this is one movie to immediately seek out.

Midnight follows the lives of two separate women as their paths reluctantly cross a brazen serial killer working the streets of Seoul. So-jung (Kim Hye-yoon) lives a generally carefree life outside of her slightly overbearing musclebound brother Jong-tak (Park Hoon). Kyung-mi (Jin Ki-joo) is a young deaf woman working an office job handling customer service via sign language. Along with her mother (Kil Hae-yeon), who is also deaf, they lead a simple happy life with dreams of saving up the money to go on an island getaway. Endangering the lives of all four is Do-sik (Wi Ha-jun), an interesting and complexly constructed serial killer who carries much of the film with his ability to switch between sinister charm and cold cruelty.

There is no better place to start than, like the opening of the film, with Do-sik’s nature as a killer. The first scene acts as something of a standalone taste of his usual MO as he stalks the streets with a small van obscuring his face with a cap, glasses, and facemask. We get time to see him be sickeningly playful as he tries to pick up a woman who missed a taxi and failing that attempt uses a body already in the van to lure her back thinking someone needs help. Later, we find him dressed rather sharply and speaking with the cops posing as a concerned passerby that noticed the killing. This act is viciously punctuated with an all too wicked and satisfied grin as the cops turn away to get to work, leaving him to walk away free from suspicion.

At his heart, Do-sik is the sort of overwhelmingly charismatic serial killer that draws to mind the likes of Ted Bundy. He can at one moment seem so kind and unassuming that almost anyone’s first reaction would be to find him likable. Yet, with this charm comes an unbearable arrogance. You can see it in the way he sneers after every moment where he manages to pass off one of his lies or with his abject frustration when a scenario ends up not playing out exactly as he planned. Take heart that they never really try to pull for any sympathy with his story, but he remains a well-reasoned character that, like many serial killers, despite all of his ability, he has some critical character flaw that ultimately charts his own downfall.

While the general plot may be pretty standard fare, if not derivative for veterans of this genre, I think it is the execution that really makes the film stand out so well. The natural way the stories weave together tells the sort of classic unfortunate nature of many true crime stories. By just happening to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Kyung-mi stumbles upon So-jung before the job is done and consequently prompts Do-sik to target both the woman and her mother, expanding his little game. There are also several films that will readily come to mind in comparison for those with a deep viewing history and these are probably fitting. Regardless, I think Midnight does some things in such a unique way that it makes it worth checking out.

The first, which the film is already being compared to in various promotional hype, is Na Hong-jin’s The Chaser from 2008 which also focuses on a charismatic serial killer seemingly able to worm his way out of any situation. It is a film that I respect, but personally have never been too fond of. Shared between both films are quite a number of extended chase sequences. In Midnight , however, the cinematography elevates these moments above much of its contemporaries. There is a certain style that gets reused in multiple sequences where the camera will trail Do-sik while he is in pursuit after his victims, yet it is slightly off-centered diagonally allowing you to get a long shot all the way down whatever side street they are running through. These moments are gorgeous and they are at one moment stunning while at the same time adding a sense of disorientation to the viewer which helps that much more with building the tension.

Furthermore, the film cranks up the tension with aplomb. Again, similar to The Chaser, there is a rather extended scene where Do-sik is on hand with Kyung-mi and her mother at a police station as they try to sort things out. He has easily inserted himself into the situation dressed up in his suit and pretending to be So-jung’s concerned brother. Do-sik manages to take advantage of the police on hand and their inability to communicate easily with Kyung-mi to control the narrative and royally lead the investigation astray. This drags on for so long that the tension reaches a near overbearing point of exhaustion. It gets even worse when Do-sik manages to convince the cops to subdue Jong-tak when he has the killer dead to rights. His mastery of controlling those around him is always believable, but at times is used so wickedly that it becomes almost impossible to stand. Some of the aforementioned chase sequences also have such close near misses that viewers who are easily drawn into these types of films will find themselves holding their breath right alongside the characters.

The other apt film comparison in my mind is Mike Flannagan’s Hush from 2016 which focused on a home invasion story centered around a deaf woman living in a remote and secluded area. There is praise abound for that film’s use of audio and it is no surprise that with the same sort of potential hook Midnight makes use of some incredibly effective sound design. Early incidental scenes at Kyung-mi’s office shift between the muted quiet of her perspective where we can only see the lips of her coworkers moving and then bursts of the actual dialog that is going on around her. Two of our leads being deaf is also worked into the plot well as a means to drive the tension. In her car, Kyung-mi uses a device that details peaks in sound which helps with noticing situations around her that might not be so obviously apparent. In their home, we find lights that blink on in response to noise. Both of these are used several times as Do-sik stalks mother and daughter to give signs of his presence even though they cannot hear and he remains hidden out of view. Inside their apartment, they manage to pull off several scenes where the killer creeps along in the background barely out of view that end up being quite effective.

Midnight also manages to work in some harshly compelling social commentary hung around this theme as well. During a business dinner, Kyung-mi’s coworkers casually make jokes about her thinking she can’t understand them. She amusingly ends up insulting them all pretty brutally in sign language which they actually can’t comprehend. This takes a darker turn later in the film as at every turn people’s inability to understand, or even slow down enough to give them the time to relate their situation, continually allows Do-sik’s rampage to continue. During the climax of the film, Kyung-mi leads the killer to a populated downtown area hoping that with so many eyes present there will be no way for him to easily get at her. To her horror, she finds no one willing to help her and most simply decide to brush her off as crazy. Which, of course, Do-sik capitalizes on crafting a new lie which eventually prompts some off-duty soldiers to become unknowingly complicit in his crimes by turning her over.

It is an incredible moment that pulls at the heart and it will be sure to leave anyone with an ounce of compassion shouting at the screen in frustration that not a single person takes the time to sincerely help out. Having this as a theme deeply strengthens its impact. The film would function perfectly fine just as a well-constructed thriller, but this extra layer of focus manages to add some greater weight without ever becoming overbearing with its message. There is a terror found with silence. They illustrate it overtly through the film’s excellent sound design, but perhaps the actual horror is found with those willing to remain silent in the face of pure evil more content to not get involved and brush things away than offer even a shred of understanding and a sense of what is right and wrong.

While the film never manages to sink to the depraved depths that the most extreme of the genre has to offer, there is one particular stand-out moment during the middle of the film that plunges into some pretty dark territory. Jong-tak seems poised early on to be the out and out hero of the film. Working as a security guard, he is incredibly fit and his early encounters with Do-sik show us that in a direct confrontation the killer just can’t cut it against him. So after finding himself cornered, Do-sik offers Jong-tak a simple bargain: he will tell him the location of his sister and let her go free if he will simply turn his gaze and leave Do-sik to finish off his victim. For all the tension that builds up through the many chases, watching the emotion that runs across the face of each character as Jong-tak has to weigh this decision is heart-wrenching.

Luckily, Kyung-mi is an incredibly resourceful lead. At every turn, she puts up one hell of a fight against Do-sik and never really caves to his many taunts and attempts to break down her spirit. Jin Ki-joo’s performance in the role is worthy of so much more praise than I can give just in simple words. The end falls down to a clever executed twist that is better left experienced firsthand, but it is Kyung-mi’s sharp mind and quick thinking that allows her to ultimately turn things around and begin exploiting the flaws in Do-sik’s behavior. For that matter, every single member of the leading cast is excellent and everyone involved really brings their best in every scene.

Midnight is an incredibly beautiful and well-executed thriller. It may not land as particularly unique, especially for connoisseurs who are experts with these kinds of South Korean thrillers, but it rides on the talent of those involved and the masterful craft on display. Do-sik makes for a vile antagonist that viewers will love to hate even as they watch him mastermind circles around every person he talks to, so much so that it feels all the more rewarding with every near miss and slight victory Kyung-mi is able to pull over him. Pairing an extremely enjoyably paced thriller that has some of the most expertly built tension among its peers, with a bit of thoughtful commentary on the casually cruel way we can be all too oblivious of those around us, leaves Midnight as one of the strongest first features I have had the pleasure of reviewing. This is genre cinema at its very best and I will be eagerly anticipating whatever Kwon Oh-seung decides to create next.

Midnight was screened as part of the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival . The festival runs virtually from Aug. 5 – 25, 2021.

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‘Midnight’ is a Triumph of Suspense, Terror, and Frustration

This review of Midnight is part of our coverage of the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival .

Fantastic thrillers and suspense films come from all over, but if pressed to highlight a single country’s genre output you’d be a fool to dismiss South Korea. Few nations have a film industry so adept at producing one thrilling banger after the next, and happily not even a worldwide pandemic could stem the tide of unrelenting good times. The latest example sports a fairly nonspecific title, but Midnight still delivers the goods when it comes to a nasty villain, a hero worth rooting for, and nerve-shredding suspense.

Kyung-mi ( Jin Ki-joo ) and her mother ( Kil Hae-yeon ) share more than a few things in common. They work hard, are looking forward to an upcoming vacation trip, and are both hearing-impaired. They’ve also become the target of a sadistic serial killer named Do-shik ( Wi Ha-joon ) who sets his knife blade on them even as he works to dispatch another woman. While he presumes the pair to be easy targets, though, he’s in for a rude awakening — these women aren’t here for his bullshit.

Writer/director Kwon Oh-seung makes his feature debut with Midnight and delivers a tense and cruel ride designed to leave viewers amped up, angry, and on edge. Events unfold over a single night from the initial attack through the final confrontation, and it’s rarely less than impressive how capably the film keeps things moving. Kyung-mi does everything right, but the killer’s efforts combined with a society unprepared (or unwilling) to understand her situation leaves the proverbial knife twisting inward until the last few minutes.

After stumbling into Do-shik’s latest act of violence, Kyung-mi moves immediately to a police call box complete with bright lights, cameras, and speakers, but she can’t hear the cops’ replies or questions. She makes her way to the nearest police station, but they don’t understand sign language. Passersby are impatient with what they see as flustered hand motions. It’s a risky throughline for Midnight to take as it’s unavoidably frustrating to watch unfold, but viewers will remain in Kyung-mi’s corner right up through her last stand.

The addition of clueless police officers and a tough, no nonsense man ( Park Hoon ) searching for his missing sister — she being the one whose attempted murder was interrupted by Kyung-mi — opens the world up a bit, and it works to the film’s advantage. She remains the focus, but the introduction of other moving parts allows for some fresh and fascinating moral complexities. Park’s performance is fueled increasingly by rage, and it’s a tense stretch when he’s tasked with the kind of dark choice that calls South Korean cinema home.

Jin is a hearing actor, but you wouldn’t know it from her performance. Her signing is formal but grows intentionally sloppy and abbreviated the more intense things get, and her face reveals the wheels turning within as Kyung-mi makes hard choices on the run. Wi is equally good, but the longer Midnight goes the more outward facing his performance becomes. He’s the mean-spirited, over the top antagonist, so it fits, but it does at times threaten to outgrow the film’s more grounded reality.

Kwon, meanwhile, shows a real eye for detail in the film’s technical arenas. His camera captures the confusion of a big, open world just as easily as it finds the quieter, more confined moments. When a street lamp illuminates a circle, the safety of the glow extends only just so far before we start to fear what’s just beyond its reach. Sound design is equally important, and while Midnight occasionally goes silent to share Kyung-mi’s experience with viewers, it finds even more terror in highlighting the sounds that she’s unknowingly making — the sounds that draw Do-shik ever closer. Pair this with equally well-constructed films like Mike Flanagan’s Hush (2016) or 2011’s Blind (also from South Korea) for a mini marathon of killers underestimating victims due to their perceived weaknesses.

Midnight will hold you until the very end, and while certain beats will frustrate it is entirely by design. This world of ours doesn’t treat everyone equally meaning some have to work that much harder than the rest. It can be tough enough for Kyung-mi just getting through her day, but with a relentless murderer on her case? Well that’s just unfair… for the murderer.

Midnight (2021) Review

“Midnight” Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Kwon Oh-Seung Cast: Jin Ki-Joo, Wi Ha-Joon, Park Hoon, Gil Hae-Yeon, Kim Hye-Yoon, Na Eun-Saem, Kim Yoo-Ri, Kang Sang-Won, Lee Sang-Eun, Lim Seung-Min Running Time: 100 min.

By Paul Bramhall

When looking at landmark movies that came to define Korean cinema in the 21 st century, it shouldn’t take too long before Na Hong-jin’s 2008 serial killer thriller The Chaser is brought into the discussion. Sure there had been serial killer thrillers before, notably Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder from 2003, however it was The Chaser’s stripped down ticking clock narrative, pitting a former cop turned pimp versus a hammer wielding prostitute killer, that kick started a wave of similarly themed productions. Few were able to match the power and intensity of Hong-jin’s debut though, and by the time the 2020’s rolled around the Korean serial killer thriller as we’d come to know it had all but disappeared. That is until 2021, when another first-time director in the form of Kwon Oh-seung decided to go the serial killer route for his debut, Midnight .

Midnight sees Wi Ha-joon ( Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum , Coin Locker Girl ) as a suave psychopath with a penchant for killing women. This fact is established in the opening scene, wherein he does exactly that, luring a lady who’s just wrapped up working in a secluded part of town into his van by offering a lift to the main road. Of course, she never makes it. Things don’t go quite to plan for Ha-joon with his next victim though, a girl who he stabs in the stomach and dumps in a dark alley out of sight. She’s able to muster the strength to throw her shoes into the street in the hope of grabbing someone’s attention, and it proves enough to catch the eye of a passer-by played by Jin Ki-joo ( Little Forest , The Land of Happiness ). The twist on the standard genre tropes come in the form of Ki-joo’s character being deaf, and when she barely escapes from Ha-joon’s grasp herself, the stage is set for a tense game of cat and mouse.

It’s Ki-joo who becomes Midnight’s central protagonist, and director Oh-seung juggles a number of plot threads to keep the tension mounting. Her mother, played by Gil Hae-yeon ( Another Child , The Mimic ), is also deaf and ends up as one of Ha-joon’s targets after her suspicions are aroused. The former marine brother of the victim, played by Park Hoon ( The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure , Golden Slumber ), enters the fray in desperate search of his sister, with Ki-joo being the last person to see her alive. Together the trio attempt to stay alive, find the victim from the alley, and convince the police that Ha-joon is in fact a murdering psycho.

All of this is wrapped up in a punchy 100-minute runtime, and the pace maintains a frantic energy for much of it as Ki-joo runs, ducks, and throws herself out of windows to dodge whatever sharpened weapon Ha-joon has to hand at the time. The decision to make her character deaf works well, with the disability in itself never defining her at any point, instead being smartly incorporated into the narrative to build a feeling of unease. Scenes such as when Ki-joo is attempting to quietly open a locked door, unaware of just how much noise she’s making, deliver the intended edge of your seat moments, as do the usage of the latest technological aids for the hearing impaired. A sound detection bar, usually used for more day-to-day occurrences like signalling someone at the door, suddenly becomes a way to alert if someone else is in the room, and house lights that go on and off when there’s noise are also used to crank up the tension.

As much as the tension levels are satisfyingly raised through the scenarios that playout onscreen, elsewhere there are alas a number of issues with Midnight . First up is my usual gripe with much of Korea’s serial killer output over the last few years, which is that they’re really isn’t much to Ha-joon in terms of characterisation. He’s a serial killer who likes killing is about as much as we learn about him, and as a result it’s difficult to really hate him when we hardly know a thing about who he is. The very first thing we see him do is lure a victim, so no time is spent on establishing why he’s become a killer, apart from one throwaway comment when he mentions he has no parents. While not having any parents isn’t usually a reason to become a serial killer, there’s a certain Korean conservatism that runs through Midnight , which would suggest it is indeed the reason we’re expected to believe could lead to such character traits.

Another case of this comes in one of the initial scenes where we see Hoon berating his sister for wearing too shorter skirt for a blind date. He insists she be home by 10:00pm, coming across as equal parts overbearing and patronising, as if to say if she stayed out any later she’d end up getting into trouble. The fact that this is exactly what happens feels like Oh-seung is saying women should listen to the men in their lives and obey without question, otherwise, if you get stabbed in the stomach then it’s your own fault for staying out late and showing some skin.

The most jarring example of this though comes when Ha-joon finally has Ki-joo cornered. Up until this point she’s been a strong female character willing to carve her own way and instilled with a fierce sense of independence, and suddenly it’s all thrown out of the window. What should be Ki-joo’s big acting moment, where she gets to deliver a speech convincingly using the inflection of a deaf person, is completely derailed by what she has to say, in which she pitifully muses on how she has to live so that she can find a good man to marry and have two kids. While her plight is likely to resonate slightly more with domestic audiences, I’m sure most who watch Midnight regardless of background would be hoping for Ki-joo to stand her ground, and not turn into a quivering damsel in distress. It’s a cringe worthy moment, and really betrays the character that’s been established.

It would be a crime not to mention the police is Midnight . Whenever police are cast as supporting roles in Korean productions they seem to be portrayed as generally being useless, but here they must surely take the award for the most useless police committed to film in the last 100 years. In one scene they have Ha-joon in the police station where he’s carrying a whole bag of knives and saws, and at no point do they see anything suspicious, failing to even notice when he gets into a ridiculous brawl with Hoon (in a bizarre action highlight that seems to have been thrown in for the hell of it) because they’re outside on a smoke break. The final scene even manages to one-up things in the police stupidity stakes though, so much so that I found myself laughing at what’s supposed to be the most cathartic scene in the movie.

Oh-seung is clearly a fan of the horror genre, with several scenes recalling far better movies. Watching Ha-joon lure victims into his van by way of offering a lift brings to mind Choi Min-sik’s despicable villain from Ki Jee-woon’s I Saw the Devil , and Oh-seung even gives Ha-joon his own Jack Torrance moment when he sets upon a bedroom door with an axe. Most obviously, the frantic foot chase sequences, of which we get a few, owe a nod of thanks to The Chaser , utilising the narrow pathways and winding stairs of Seoul’s neighbourhoods in a way that can’t help but get the adrenaline pumping. However these feel like lesser imitations of superior productions rather than respectful nods from a movie which is able to stand on its own, too much relying on tropes which we’ve seen before, and ultimately feeling like just another disposable entry in an already overcrowded genre.

While both Ki-joo and Ha-joon give committed performances as the leads, in the end neither of them is enough to elevate the material beyond being an average genre offering. While the brisk pace delivers the intended thrills, a number of dumb choices and character deviations are prominent enough to make Midnight only a tentative recommendation. If you’re looking for a solid serial killer thriller pitting a strong female versus a vicious killer, go check out 2016’s Missing You instead, which Oh-seung could well take a few lessons from.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 5.5/10

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Midnight – film review

Jamie Havlin watches an award-winning new thriller from South Korea starring Squid Game’s Wi Ha-jun.

If you had to name a country whose TV and cinema were on the rise, South Korea would be a good answer. Parasite recently gained the distinction of becoming only the third film to ever win both the Palme d’Or and Oscar for Best Picture, while last year’s survival drama series Squid Game speedily established itself as a true international phenomenon.

Wi Ha-jun, one of the stars of that series, appears here in the directorial debut of Kwon Oh-seung, as serial killer Do-Sik.

Operating in a Seoul neighbourhood by night, he targets what he perceives as the perfect prey in Kyung-mi (Ki-joo Jin), a likeable young woman who is deaf and unable to speak.

She lives with her mother, who is also deaf, the pair aided by a number of alerting devices such as motion sensors and audio detectors, while both communicate to one another in Korean sign language.

Kyung-mi, though, navigates through life as independently as possible. She works in a customer services department, answering video calls from hearing impaired clients and she refuses to take any abuse from rude customers. I did recognise one piece of international sign language she uses – the middle finger. She also stands up for herself at staff meetings, insisting that she attend a social function for some of the company’s bigwig clientele. It’s after this event, which runs later than expected, that she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not far from her home, she comes across a badly injured girl who pleads for her help.

Lurking in the shadows and watching on is a masked Do-Sik, who has just attacked the girl. Kyung-mi will have to make the absolute most of her resourcefulness to survive his murderous intentions.

Young, strong, self-confident and extraordinarily devious, Do-Sik not only enjoys inflicting physical pain but derives pleasure in playing twisted games. This is a risk-taker, who is drawn to witnessing the turmoil that his grotesque actions set in motion. His arrogance is so great that believes he can outwit not only his intended victims but the cops too, albeit that’s not too difficult here as the police officers are all portrayed as utterly incompetent, though well-intentioned.

Do-sik can ooze vulnerability or charm one minute and then instantly switch into chilling sadistic sociopath mode. It’s a standout performance from Wi Ha-jun.

Midnight is beautifully shot – its saturated colours perhaps inspired by Dario Argento’s Suspiria. Even more impressive is its sound design, which regularly alternates between full sound and a clever use of silence that plunges us into the world as experienced by Kyung-mi and her mum.

Despite a surfeit of illogical decisions made by a number of characters, Midnight delivers the goods. Fast paced, the tension is unrelenting once it hits its stride, including an axe through the door scene that pays hommage to The Shining. Heeeeeere’s Do-Sik!

I bet the inevitable Hollywood remake won’t be anywhere near as good.

Special features include a limited edition silver laminate O Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju); a new audio commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger; a new video essay on the history of Korean horror cinema by Travis Crawford and a collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

For more on the film, click here .

All words by Jamie Havlin. Jamie has written a couple of short films screened on British TV and at international festivals. He regularly contributes to the glam rock fanzine Wired Up! More writing by Jamie can be found at his Louder Than War author’s archive .

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Blu-ray Review – Midnight (2021)

June 7, 2022 by admin

Midnight , 2021.

Directed by Oh-Seung Kwon. Starring Wi Ha-Joon, Park Hoon, Ki-joo Jin, Kim Hye-Yoon, and Hae-yeon Kil.

A deaf mother and daughter try and escape a psychopathic killer in the dark backstreets of the city.

Korean genre cinema has been a thing of beauty to watch over the past few years – and not just the Oscar-nominated movies – and if there is one element that sticks out above all others it is the ability to weave a solid story amongst the exciting set pieces. Midnight is the debut feature from writer/director Oh-Seung Kwon and if this is where he is beginning his filmmaking career then the future of Korean cinema looks to be in very capable hands.

In Midnight we are submerged in dark backstreets and alleyways whilst psychopathic killer Do Shik ( Squid Game’s Wi Ha-Joon) stalks his female victims and drags them back to his van. However, for his latest chase he has targeted Kyung Mi (Ki-joo Jin), a deaf young woman who is out and about with her mother (Hae-yeon Kil) – who is also deaf – and as Do Shik discovers that maybe Kyung Mi is a little more resourceful than her disability would initially suggest, Jong Tak (Park Hoon), the brother of Do Shik’s previous victim, is wandering the streets looking for his missing sister, a search that culminates in a standoff in a crowded city centre, where the killer can operate in plain sight.

Although Midnight certainly falls under the banner of a dark thriller, it is also fair to say that it has one foot hovering over the line marked ‘horror’; certainly Do Shik is as cunning and vicious as any killer you have seen in any number of slasher or giallo movies, and Oh-Seung Kwon’s flawless direction is definitely evocative of prime John Carpenter when it comes to neon visuals and placing the viewer in the world that the killer inhabits, but Midnight is not derivative of anything from Carpenter or the peak slasher era. Instead, it offers a slick and modern take on a familiar cat-and-mouse formula, where the gadgets that Kyung Mi has for motion detection come into play, assisting her and her mother as they communicate in a language that neither Do Shik or the police understand, which gives them the edge as they can act rather than react.

But in amongst the tense action, which is pretty much relentless from start to finish, there are little moments of social commentary peppered in. The police aren’t shown in a particularly good light, being slightly bumbling pen-pushers who seem very quick to take the suited-and-booted Do Shik’s word over the hysterical Kyung Mi’s, a point that gets repeated a few times and not just from the police, as the scenes leading up to the climax highlight. Jong Tak is also introduced as a bit unlikeable due to his strict treatment of his sister, although he is ultimately proved right and has his own heroic moments to gain our sympathies.

However, Midnight is about Do Shik and Kyung Mi, and both actors totally go for it as they seem to cover most of the city in their desperation. Wi Ha-Joon plays the creepy but charming villain with relish – give him a fake moustache and he’d no doubt twirl it – and creates one of the most insane horror characters in recent memory, and Ki-joo Jin is the perfect adversary for him, being totally sweet and innocent but resourceful when she needs to be, and keeping one step ahead of her pursuer in some very inventive ways that may not always be totally realistic but this is a movie and movies are meant to entertain, right? Props must also go to the cameraman who managed to keep up with them as they sprinted through the winding streets and dark alleyways as just watching them seems exhausting (in a good way) at times.

Overall, Midnight is an exceptional example of taking something overly familiar and making it feel fresh by simply creating characters we can get behind instead of the usual unlikeable caricatures or stock slasher victims. Such is the claustrophobic intensity and sense of frustration that the actors and director create that you barely notice that Do Shik should have easily caught Kyung Mi as he is clearly running faster than she is for most of the main chase, but it doesn’t matter as the movie climaxes with one of the most satisfying fist-in-the-air endings in a horror/thriller for quite some time, especially after such an exciting build-up. Yes, there are few small holes you could pick in Midnight but nothing that would take away from your enjoyment of one of the most gripping, suspenseful and brilliant thrillers of recent times, and it clocks in at under two hours which, for a Korean movie, is a rare thing indeed.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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2021 ‘미드나이트’ Directed by Kwon Oh-seung

Silence kills.

A serial killer ruthlessly hunts down a deaf woman through the streets of South Korea after she witnesses his brutal crime.

Jin Ki-joo Wi Ha-jun Park Hoon Kil Hae-yeon Kim Hye-yoon Lee Sang-hee Park Ji-hoon Eun-Woo Bae Min-woo Choi Oh Ji-young Jung Won-chang Im Sung Mi Noh Su Min Na Eun-saem Shin Mi-yeong Song You-hyun Na Yoon-sung In-woo Kim Kim Yoo-ri Kim Kwang-shik Lee Yoo-jun Tae Won-seok Ahn Sang-eun Bae Eun-woo Lee Jin-mok Kwon Young-min Lee Se-hee Yun Bu-jin Lee Seung-chul Show All… Yang Do-hyun Moon Seung-you Lee Sang-eun Jang Yong-hee Jeon Ah-hee Yim Seung-min

Director Director

Kwon Oh-seung

Producers Producers

Jeong Yong-uk Lee Seung-ryong

Executive Producer Exec. Producer

Kim Hyun-woo

Writer Writer

Editor editor.

Lee Gang-hee

Cinematography Cinematography

Cha Taek-kyun

Lighting Lighting

Set decoration set decoration.

Song Suk-ki

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Kim Jung-soo Choi Jin-seob

Stunts Stunts

Jeon Jae-hyeong

Composer Composer

Hwang Sang-jun

Sound Sound

Lee In-gyu Sung Yoon-yong Jung Hyun-su

Costume Design Costume Design

Choi Eui-young

Peppermint&company Finecut CJ Entertainment

South Korea

Primary language, spoken languages.

Korean Sinhalese, Sinhala

Releases by Date

20 oct 2021, 30 jun 2021, 24 sep 2021, 13 apr 2023, 21 feb 2022, 14 mar 2022, 05 apr 2022, 11 may 2022, 08 aug 2022, 14 oct 2022, 02 feb 2022, releases by country.

Digital VOD
Physical DVD & Blu-Ray
Digital 12 MyCanal
Premiere Fantasy Filmfest

Popular reviews

Review by closetmonster ★★★ 6

stop casting a hot actor as a psychopath. i can't handle it

Review by A ★★★½ 15

Pussy was clenching through out the whole movie no lie

Review by nideen ★★★ 5

now why does he have bisexual lighting in his murder van 😭

Review by fea 🕊️ ★★ 2

wi ha joon: i'm literally a psychopathic killer me, twirls hair: it's okay babe i can fix you

Review by Mike Lawson ★★★★ 1

One of the biggest complaints I heard about this movie was that the cops are dumb and bad at their jobs and, like...I have some bad news for you about actual cops

Review by kenzie ★★★★★

actually the biggest girlboss i’ve ever seen in my life

Review by seg ! ★★★★

i can fix him

Review by Ethan Ethan ★★½

There's too many serial killers in South Korean media that I developed some sort of fatigue about them. There's also the tendency of their serial killer characters to go full psycho, and the antagonist here really did went full psycho. At first he was threatening, then he becomes cringe, by the end of the movie his cringe becomes threatening.

While there are some nice chase sequences in here that's reminiscent of a much better South Korean thriller The Chaser (2008), I still had to stretch my suspension of disbelief to fully enjoy this movie. I can nitpick how apparently no one's outside during midnight, or the police are idiots, or the deaf people don't carry whistles; but I understand that those are just made to further the plot. Still, if you resort to making your characters stupid to stretch the runtime, then it's bad writing.

Review by kyrs ★★★★ 2

killing is bad, but if someone as hot and sexy as wi hajoon is doing the crime, then it’s totally fine

Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★½ 12

This is one of those movies with a promising subject that is ultimately let down by a weak script. The story follows a deaf mute girl who witnesses a murder at the hands of a serial killer and must flee from him through most of the city, despite the fact that she is unable to yell for help and do very much because of her impairment and our killer seems to be rather "smart". This allows for plenty of suspense, which is felt at times, but not as much as it could be, and there comes a point where the picture feels like it doesn't have much fuel in its tank.

All in all, while occasionally engaging and boasting solid cinematography, technical work, and acting, the film ultimately falls short of its potential.

TODAY SCHEDULE PTU Turn Left, Turn Right Neerja Midnight

Review by kyrs ★★★★½ 1

idc if he’s a killer, im ready to welcome him with open arms and open legs

Review by Chris Brown ★ 4

Just awful.

I knew I was in for trouble when the killer calls in a murder he committed to the police, and the cops who arrive can't even be bothered to keep him for questioning. And it seems he keeps committing murders in the same van the cops discovered the bodies in.

There are so many ridiculous moments in the film. A deaf person listening at the door to hear if the killer is still out there. Police letting a person who is accused of murder (by a fellow cop!) go. A cop who lets a girl die because the killer threatens to kill himself. Characters in danger have cell phones that they never use. And so much chasing which…

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Midnight (2021) Who said the wheel needed reinventing? (Review)

Between Gangnam Style, BTS, Parasite, and Squid Game, we have some monumentally successful Korean exports, each one putting the small peninsula on the cultural map to an entirely different audience than the last. Squid Game is especially relevant to Montage Pictures’ release of Midnight – the casting of Wi Ha-jun will increase the number of eyes on this Best Feature Award winner from Manchester’s Grimm Festival, fresh out on Blu-Ray from the Eureka Entertainment Subsidiary label. This feature debut is Written and directed by Kwon Oh-Seung is the brand of thriller that elevated Korean cinema to the global stage. Or, at the very least, recalls it.

Jin Ki-Joo is Kyung Mi, a young deaf woman who works for a call centre providing customer service for those who require sign language. Her boss asks his employees (exclusively young pretty women) to go for drinks after work with the senior members of their current contracted company, while she doesn’t usually go – Kyung Mi tricks her way into an invite. Afterwards, she looks to meet up with her mum as the pair plan a holiday away to Jeju Island. Little do either of them know, Do Shik (Squid Game’s Wi Ha-Joon) is a serial killer on the prowl about town and on her way home, she stumbles across his latest victim, So Jung (Kim Hye-Yoon). Carelessly strolling into the worst place, the killer starts a new in the silent night streets. Completing the small cast is Jong-Tak (Park Hoon), as So Jung’s long-suffering brother, who is desperately looking for his missing little sister.

Kwon Oh-Seung’s debut is a brilliantly acted film that is beautifully shot and pushes for a real sense of danger in its storytelling. The exact sort of thing that made the Korean New Wave such a warmly welcomed antidote to the Hollywood machine all those years ago.

There’s a white elephant in Midnight. Representation is a thorny issue; that being so, I was shocked to learn that Jin Ki-Joo isn’t a deaf actress; a shock comparable to Toby Kebbel in Dead Man’s Shoes (2004). It was such a shock as the performance is so raw, lived in and believable that I would never have guessed that she had no issues with her hearing. While a feather in the cap for the leading lady, of course, it would’ve been better and more appropriate to cast a deaf actor. However, we don’t know the story behind the casting process, so it would be inappropriate for me to assume. In an article in the Korean Times , she said: “ I started sleeping wearing earplugs, as the director recommended. When I woke up, I felt like my heart and breath were vibrating. After that experience, I kind of got used to the noiseless world and relied on other senses “. Even if it is not ideal, it translates into a remarkable performance – something which she has in common with the pieces Villian, Wi Ha-jun. He is a monster who you can’t wait to get his just deserts, he is a killer that is a disarmingly attractive confidence trickster who manipulates and changes stops at a whim, a true chameleonic and hateful character – it takes a great performance to make you hate a character.

Midnight operates on the same level as Mike Mike Flanagan’s Hush in that we can see the whole picture, as can the killer, whereas the deaf lead character and her deaf mum only perceive danger through visual cues. While this creates some incredible tension, three scenes elevate this suspense thriller to the next level. One sees Kyung-Mi and her Mum escape to the relative safety of the 24-hour pop-up police station. At this point, the killer has only been present whilst wearing a cap and face mask. When he rocks up in a suit with a case in hand (albeit one full of blades), it creates dramatic irony and a palpable sense of white knuckle terror concerning the safety of the two ladies. Another scene occurs when the killer and So-Jong’s desperate brother have caught up with Kyung-Mi. All they share is a short conversation, but it is just as shocking as any of the threat posed to the vulnerable Kyung-Mi. And the last is an extended sequence where the chase has found its way into the town centre, with its bars, restaurants, clubs and crowds. An escalation that sets up a thrilling finale.

Midnight is well worth a watch for any fans of thrillers or horror; Kwon Oh-Seung’s debut is a brilliantly acted film that is beautifully shot and pushes for a real sense of danger in its storytelling. The exact sort of thing that made the Korean New Wave such a warmly welcomed antidote to the Hollywood machine all those years ago. It is all of these things and a by-the-numbers chase movie that is transparently building up to the bad guy getting everything he deserves. And sure, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel but who said there was anything wrong with a slick and beautifully made film that sets out to do what it intended?

Extras are thin on the ground. There’s a commentary from the hardest working woman in film criticism, Kat Ellinger. And a visual essay, “the history of Korean horror cinema” by critic Travis Crawford, not that Midnight fits all that well into the Horror categorisation.

MIDNIGHT IS OUT NOW ON MONTAGE PICTURES BLU-RAY CLICK THE BOX ART BELOW TO BUY MIDNIGHT FROM EUREKA ENTERAINMENT

ROB’S ARCHIVE – MIDNIGHT (2021)

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Midnight (2021) korean movie review.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another Korean movie review. Today’s movie review will be on the new thriller out of Korean cinema, <Midnight>.

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Directed by Kwon Oh-Seung, who’s having his feature film directorial debut with this, <Midnight> featured a cast lineup of Jin Ki-Joo, Wi Ha-Joon, Park Hoon, Gil Hae-Yeon, and Kim Hye-Yoon. No, not the most A-list actors and actresses, but amazing nonetheless; I’ll explain more later.

<Midnight> is a genre that Korean cinema is extremely good at: Thrillers. I’ve been craving a good thriller out of Korea, and it’s safe to say that this one delivered. Similar to that of another relatively recent film, <Seobok>, <Midnight> had a simultaneous release in theaters as well as the Korean streaming service TVing. We’re seeing a lot more Korean movies having these simultaneous in-theater and streaming service releases, and I personally think this is a great way for the global audience to enjoy new Korean movies as they are released; granted, they’ll have to be released on international platforms, such as Netflix.

Let’s take a look at the detailed synopsis of <Midnight> before getting into the good parts about the movie.

The synopsis is as follows: On her way back home, the hearing impaired Kyung-Mi witnesses So-Jung on the street, bleeding. She tries to help her, but ends up becoming the new target of the serial killer, Do-Shik. In order to survive, Kyung-Mi frantically runs away, but because she can’t hear even the mere sounds of the killer’s footsteps, it makes it even harder to escape from the murderer. To make matters even worse, the culprit returns baring a new face, threatening her and her surroundings. Will she be able to escape the horror of Do-Shik, and win in this unstoppable thriller chase?

The movie doesn’t waste any time and gets very suspenseful from the get-go. From the first 5 minutes, it’s very thrilling, and as mentioned, the film released in theaters and on a Korean streaming service simultaneously. However, I must say, this type of thriller is so, so much better in-theaters. There are movies like <Sweet and Sour> that released on Netflix that I think are good watching at home and on the small screen. And then there are movies like this that’s 10 times better on the big screen with the booming audio.

Also as mentioned, there aren’t A-list actors in this, but don’t let that take anything away from the performances. The acting in this was phenomenal. Wi Ha-Joon’s psychopathic acting was chillingly good, and he really seemed like a psycho in the antagonist role. This was my first time seeing him act, but I can’t say enough good things about him. He kind of reminded me of Park Seo-Joon and Kim Young-Kwang, like a mixture of them, but of course with his own charms as well. He’s definitely an actor I’ll be looking out for in the future.

Furthermore, Jin Ki-Joo was also exceptional in this as well. She was in the film <Little Forest> before, but didn’t really shine as brightly in that, in my opinion. However, in this, she absolutely killed it. There was nothing to complain about her portrayal of the hearing impaired protagonist, and it’s her and Wi Ha-Joon’s acting that made the film go from a good one, to a great one.

Moreover, the film did a really good job at portraying the difficulties of hearing impaired people. For example, the portrayal of real life situations like how having a meal with other colleagues is so much more difficult and different, and not being able to hear what others are saying of you can be so hurtful.

These real-life examples were good, but what made the film great on another level is its use of auditory elements to enhance these portrayals. Even from the trailers you can get a slight feel of this, as the use of audio was so good. The movie goes silent often to get the audience to understand the hardships of hearing impaired people, which made the situations so real. Sometimes, you don’t need thrilling music or sound effects; silence is the scariest, as shown here. But when the BGM was there, it added to the effect and made it even better, not taking away from the overall flow of the film. And that combined with the camerawork it had, the movie was one of the best thrillers I’ve seen recently.

The movie was full of suspense and thrill, but it also had light and humorous scenes in the beginning to keep it from being too serious, and giving it character. I especially appreciated this, as this was when the character development took place, and you really understand the personalities and traits of the characters.

It goes without saying, because a lot of the movie is silent, there are lots of jump scares, which I hate. I understand some jump-scares are necessary for this genre, but I felt like it went overboard. I know that may sound contrary with some of the good things I said before with its auditory elements, but it’s just the balance that I wasn’t quite satisfied with, so don’t let that take away from how good it was in that sense.

Also, one of the biggest things that thriller and crime movies need to get down are logic and continuity. This wasn’t a major flaw in <Midnight>, but there were a few that stood out. For example, letting the suspect go without even checking the CCTV at the police station. It’s scenes like this and some others that makes normal civilians seem so dumb and gullible. It lacks in the realistic realm in this way.

And lastly, the ending was pretty unoriginal and predictable, and there were slight moments of forced emotional scenes out of nowhere.

All in all, <Midnight> was one of the best thriller/chaser movies I’ve seen recently. The acting was phenomenal by everyone, especially Jin Ki-Joo and Wi Ha-Joon, and the cinematography and auditory elements of the film was incredible. If you are a fan of Korean thrillers, this is one that you need to check out.

Ticket Price Value: $13

(Ticket Price Value is the price I would pay to watch the film again for the first time)

What were your thoughts on the movie? Do you agree or disagree with my review? What would your ‘Ticket Price Value’ be? Leave a comment down below!

**follow the eon talk facebook page for more korean movie content ☞ @eontalk, watch the video review:, related films (click to view):.

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Disclaimer Please keep in mind this review is composed of solely my own opinions, and should be taken with a grain of salt. I am in no way a professional writer, nor have I majored or studied journalism. This is for informative entertainment purpose only, representing my personal views. I do not own the images and/or videos used in the review. No copyright infringement intended.

2 thoughts on “Midnight (2021) Korean Movie Review”

Hi Eontalk, I love to watch Midnight movie but saw it without the english subtitles so did not completely understood what I saw. Haha… Would you be so kind and let me know where can I find a good english subtitle for that movie? I literally looked everywhere but have no luck. Since I saw you have added subtitle on the trailer of Midnight, perhaps you have ideas where to look for the english sub of the entire movie? Any help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks Jayrom

You can watch it on HiTv app

Movie Review: Midnight in the Switchgrass (2021)

Vincent Gaine
Movie Reviews
--> July 26, 2021

The serial killer narrative has been done to death, in TV series and movies. Within this sub-genre — that combines thriller and horror — there are masterpieces, there are turkeys and there’s the rest, that lack brilliance but offer some enjoyment. More specifically, homicide detective narratives set in small town or rural America veer from the sublime like “True Detective” to the mediocre “Texas Killing Fields” and “Out of Time” to the ridiculous.

The opening sequence of Randall Emmett’s Midnight in the Switchgrass echoes these previous dramas and offers promise. Aerial shots over the evocative landscape of Pensacola, Florida are accompanied by a voiceover from Byron Crawford (Emile Hirsch, “ Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood ”), ruminating on hunters, prey and the shifting position of humans. We then cut to the discovery of a body, and while the opening is clichéd it does offer genre pleasures that raise goodwill in the viewer. This goodwill continues in the following scene, as a long take presents Tracey Lee (Caitlin Carmichael, “Epiphany”) as she emerges from a motel room in a drugged state, making her way through a parking lot en route to further plot developments.

The goodwill is perpetuated by a possible interest in the under-explored and potentially interesting aspect of this type of narrative — the position of the victim. Perhaps Emmett and writer Alan Horsnail will offer more than the disturbing serial killer or the devoted cop. It all looks promising.

The goodwill and promise lasts for about ten minutes. Consequently, telegraphed scene follows telegraphed scene and a set of disparate storylines take off in clumsily stitched together directions. Florida Department of Law Enforcement officer Byron has been investigating a series of murders that he believes are the work of the same killer. He is very devoted, because of course he is. FBI agents Rebecca Lombardi (Megan Fox, “ Till Death ”) and Karl Helter (Bruce Willis, “ Trauma Center ,” who might as well have said “Where’s my check?” instead of his dialogue) conduct a sting operation regarding sex trafficking in search of a particular perpetrator. Rebecca is committed to helping women because they could have been her, because of course she is. Karl is, there. And truck driver Peter Hillsborough (Lukas Haas, “ First Man ”) is the sick bastard that both state and federal law enforcement agencies are looking for. And there’s the Sheriff’s department detective (Michael Beach, “ Inheritance ”) who goes on about his jurisdiction and wants no involvement from other agencies.

With the goodwill squandered, Midnight in the Switchgrass then takes its viewer thoroughly into the ridiculous. The reveal of Peter as the killer early on is not necessarily a problem, but the film takes the trouble to show that Peter is a loving father and husband, in such a way as to hammer the point again and again that the serial killer “seemed like such a nice, normal person” but is really a monster. Yes, got it. The script lacks the context or world-building to create proper juxtaposition — with Peter established early on as creepy, the film has nowhere to go but into depravity, which needs to be handled with care and precision. Emmett is no David Fincher and the descent (literally) is not so much steady as lurching.

In the other narrative strands, Hirsch’s Byron could have been an interesting protagonist, but Horsnail gives him little to do beyond lamenting to his wife that he does not feel the presence of God, while she complains about the absence of Byron. Willis is barely in the film and seems bored: There is one scene ostensibly between Karl and Rebecca, but Willis is largely out of shot and the speaker actually sounds like someone else, suggesting a reshoot without the principal actor. Fox tries her best but the script denies Rebecca agency, lumping her with a backstory pulled from the file marked “tough girl with daddy issues” and then placing her in a painfully obvious situation.

The treatment of Rebecca highlights a nasty and exploitative strand of misogyny within the film. As mentioned earlier, it could be interesting to explore the victims’ perspective, especially as we see kidnap as well as murder. But the film takes the killer’s perspective, frequently aligning the viewer with Peter and seeming to revel in his cruelty. Despite characters insisting that “she’s so strong” and “these women can do much,” this is still very much a man’s story about how men treat women. Some men treat women well and others treat them badly, but the film as a whole treats them badly. It comes across therefore as cheap and lazy, boring as well as distasteful.

To make matters worse, aside from that promising long take, the film is garishly shot. Leering point-of-view shots, distracting filters and tedious montages seem designed to stretch things out and make the whole experience more turgid, robbing Midnight in the Switchgrass of tension and forward momentum. It is also clumsily edited, with pointless insert shots of the titular switchgrass and some (mercifully brief) action sequences that offer neither a coherent space nor a visceral thrill. Add all this incompetence together and you have a thriller that fails to deliver thrills or atmosphere, while also presenting some depressingly retrograde attitudes.

Tagged: FBI agent , Florida , investigation , murder , police

Dr. Vincent M. Gaine is a film and television researcher. His first book, Existentialism and Social Engagement in the Films of Michael Mann was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2011. His work on film and media has been published in Cinema Journal and The Journal of Technology , Theology and Religion , as well as edited collections including The 21st Century Superhero and The Directory of World Cinema .

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Blu-Ray Review: Midnight (2021, Eureka Entertainment)

COMMENTS

Midnight
Midnight. 2021, Mystery & thriller, 1h 43m. 17 Reviews 50+ Ratings ... There are no featured audience reviews for Midnight at this time. See All Audience Reviews Movie & TV guides ...
Midnight (2021)
smonster00 4 July 2021. People didn't like this film as much as I did. The pacing of this thriller is SO GOOD. I was constantly in suspense and felt LOTS of adrenaline. It's about deaf people surviving a killer; Ki-joo Jin's acting is on a whole different level in Midnight (2021) 9/10.
Midnight (2021)
Midnight: Directed by Oh-Seung Kwon. With Wi Ha-joon, Park Hoon, Jin Ki-joo, Kim Hye-yoon. A serial killer ruthlessly hunts down a deaf woman through the streets of South Korea after she witnesses his brutal crime.
Midnight (2021)
Midnight - Fantasia Review (3/5) Posted by Nadja "HorrorDiva" Houmoller | Aug 22, 2021 | 4 minutes. MIDNIGHT i s a serial killer thriller from South Korea. A shorter runtime than usual but a brilliantly portrayed villain. Also, the main protagonist is a young deaf woman. We screened this at Fantasia 2021. Read our full Midnight movie review here!
Midnight (2021) Film Review
Written and directed by Oh-seung, the film makes for an incredible first outing that shows complete mastery of the subtle craft needed to carefully compose this style of movie. If you love its contemporaries, then this is one movie to immediately seek out. Midnight follows the lives of two separate women as their paths reluctantly cross a ...
Midnight (2021 film)
Midnight (Korean: 미드나이트; RR: Mideunaiteu) is a 2021 South Korean psychological thriller film, written and directed by Kwon Oh-seung.The film starring Jin Ki-joo, Wi Ha-joon and Kim Hye-yoon, depicts a life-threatening hide-and-seek scenario between a psychopathic killer and a deaf woman. The film was slated to release in 2020 but its release was postponed due to the resurgence of the ...
'Midnight' is a Triumph of Suspense, Terror, and Frustration
Movies · Reviews 'Midnight' is a Triumph of Suspense, Terror, and Frustration ... By Rob Hunter · Published on August 25th, 2021 . This review of Midnight is part of our coverage of the 2021 ...
Midnight (2021) Review
Midnight (2021) Review. By Paul Bramhall. When looking at landmark movies that came to define Korean cinema in the 21 st century, it shouldn't take too long before Na Hong-jin's 2008 serial killer thriller The Chaser is brought into the discussion. Sure there had been serial killer thrillers before, notably Bong Joon-ho's Memories of ...
Midnight
Midnight (2021) Director: Kwon Oh-seung Cast: Wi Ha-jun & Jin Ki-joo Language: Korean (with optional English subtitles) Runtime: 103 mins Format: Midnight, an award-winning new thriller from South Korea starring Squid Game's Wi Ha-jun.
Midnight (2021)
Erik, the Asian Movie Enthusiast presents:A review of "Midnight", a Korean thriller from 2021. During the opening scene, we are introduced to the villain ...
Midnight (South Korea, 2021)
Midnight. Story: Kyeong-mi (Jin Ki-joo) is a deaf-mute and goes to pick up her mother, who is also a deaf-mute (Gil Hae-yeon), after work with her car. When she makes her mother wait while she parks the car, she notices the girl So-jong (Kim Hye-yoon), who is lying in an alley bleeding. As she wants to get help, the masked perpetrator (Wi Ha ...
Midnight (2021)
Midnight, 2021. Directed by Oh-Seung Kwon. Starring Wi Ha-Joon, Park Hoon, Ki-joo Jin, Kim Hye-Yoon, and Hae-yeon Kil. SYNOPSIS: A deaf mother and daughter try and escape a psychopathic killer in ...
Midnight (2021) Reviews
Story 5.0. Acting/Cast 8.5. Music 6.0. Rewatch Value 3.0. This movie's first half excited and fascinated me with it's chase scenes, the serial killer manipulating everyone and the abduction of Kim hye yoon's character. I loved the family part of this movie, especially the mother-daughter relationship.
‎Midnight (2021) directed by Kwon Oh-seung • Reviews, film + cast
Midnight. 2021 '미드나이트 ... One of the biggest complaints I heard about this movie was that the cops are dumb and bad at their jobs and, like...I have some bad news for you about actual cops ... Review by seg ! ★★★★ i can fix him. Review by Ethan Ethan ★★½ . There's too many serial killers in South Korean media that I ...
Midnight (2021) Blu-Ray Review
Midnight is well worth a watch for any fans of thrillers or horror; Kwon Oh-Seung's debut is a brilliantly acted film that is beautifully shot and pushes for a real sense of danger in its storytelling. The exact sort of thing that made the Korean New Wave such a warmly welcomed antidote to the Hollywood machine all those years ago.
Midnight (2021)
A life-threatening hide-and-seek between a psychopathic killer and a deaf woman Kyeong Mi, a girl with hearing impairment lives with her mother. Working at the customer call center, one day she storms out of an unpleasant dinner with the client and drives home after she picks up her mother. Meanwhile, the murderer Do Shik spots Kyeong Mi's ...
After Midnight movie review & film summary (2021)
After Midnight. When Hank ( Jeremy Gardner) isn't looking around with an anxious glare, always in hunting mode, he's daydreaming about his girlfriend Abby ( Brea Grant ). Hank's memories, bright and sunny, present Abby as a loving, funny partner—all the more harrowing given that she's currently missing. With just a note, she has ...
Midnight (2021) Korean Movie Review
The Good. The movie doesn't waste any time and gets very suspenseful from the get-go. From the first 5 minutes, it's very thrilling, and as mentioned, the film released in theaters and on a Korean streaming service simultaneously. However, I must say, this type of thriller is so, so much better in-theaters.
Midnight Mass movie review & film summary (2021)
In fact, the effects of "Midnight Mass" are generally inferior to both "Haunting" projects. This show is not heavy on them, so it's a minor complaint, but when it does explode into horror action, it turns into more of a B-movie production than either "Haunting.". Without spoiling, Flanagan has always worked better with shadows in ...
Six Minutes to Midnight movie review (2021)
The title "Six Minutes to Midnight" is a reckoning; a reminder of the Doomsday clock that—more than eight decades after the setting of this film—is less than two minutes to the end. If we are to do better than that, we will need films that focus more directly on the questions this one pushes to the side. Now playing in select theaters and ...
Midnight in the Switchgrass movie review (2021)
Midnight in the Switchgrass. "Midnight in the Switchgrass" is the type of crime thriller that's so full of cliches that it becomes one big cliche itself. A few cops investigate a serial predator before its too late; a director tries to be taken seriously by throwing in a bunch of bleak material; Bruce Willis shows up, barely.
Movie Review: Midnight in the Switchgrass (2021)
Dr. Vincent M. Gaine is a film and television researcher. His first book, Existentialism and Social Engagement in the Films of Michael Mann was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2011. His work on film and media has been published in Cinema Journal and The Journal of Technology, Theology and Religion, as well as edited collections including The 21st Century Superhero and The Directory of World ...

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Midnight – Fantasia Review (3/5)

MIDNIGHT i s a serial killer thriller from South Korea. A shorter runtime than usual but a brilliantly portrayed villain. Also, the main protagonist is a young deaf woman. We screened this at Fantasia 2021. Read our full Midnight movie review here!

Being deaf in South Korea

Midnight has some misses but a brilliant villain!

We screened Midnight during Fantasia 2021

About The Author

Nadja "HorrorDiva" Houmoller

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