[KFCC] Into The Mirror Review

Story: After the accidental causing of the death of his partner during a hostage situation, Wu Young-min quits the police force to work for his uncle as head security of Dreampia, an immense shopping center. Dreampia is currently in the rebuilding stages as a fire destroyed parts of it five years ago. The re-opening was scheduled in a few days, until some strange murders begin to occur in the building. It seems that the victims, all employees of the mall, have committed suicide in very gruesome and unconventional ways.

Young-min is very suspicious about the police explanation, primary because both victims have committed suicide with their opposite hands. Young-min decides to start his own investigation, but unfortunately for him, an old acquaintance, Ha Hyun-su, is in charge of the police investigation. Hyun-su is still blaming Young-min for the death of their friend and is not interested to cooperate with him. However, the more clues they stumble on, the more strange and unnatural the truth becomes. Could the killer really be a ghost from a mirror world?

Review: At first sight, the movie really looks like another clone of the new wave of psychological horror films coming from Asia. It’s true that INTO THE MIRROR borrows a lot of elements from the genre such as the visuals and atmosphere. However, the movie turns out to be much more about a police investigation than a real scary horror movie.

First time director, Kim Seong-Ho did a great job with the script and story line. The plot is well tied up and not too confused. It has a good share of mystery and cops elements mixed with enough fantasy to hook the viewer. Though, the pacing is a bit unbalance as the first part of the movie contains most of ghost, horror and fantasy elements. Then the movie takes a turn when it reaches the middle to become more like a police drama. The ending however, is really the big surprise of the movie with a lot of the mystery finally clarified with answers that at least makes sense and don’t seems like plot hole filler. A great ending, that is worthy of any good Twilight Zone episode, which will leave a feeling of sadness, but also satisfaction in the viewers mind.

Yoo Ji-tae, well known for his role in Attack the Gas station, portrays the main character Young-min. Young-min is a very sad character, torn away in despair and always feeling guilty for the death of his partner. This role was very psychological and Yoo Ji-tae did a great job in his role, even if at the beginning we don’t exactly understand his feelings, it became clearer with the development of the story. Hyun-su the cop was played by Kim Myung-min, one of the hottest new actors in the Korean industry. His character was maybe not developed as much as Young-min but his part was still very well acted. As for Kim Hye-na, she plays the lady ghost, but I won’t say too much about her presence as to not spoil any fun of discovery.

Try and not to enter the film expecting a scary ride from start to finish. As I said before, the movie mix, and very well, two different kinds of styles. Horror is indeed one of the two, but mystery and thriller was the much more dominant styles. The few horrific effects were executed well and the reversals and surprises were fitting. The only problem is that the rules of the ghost, what he can do and cannot do, are not exactly clear and the use of the mirror to commit the murders are used to its best potential. It would have been great if the characters were actually scared of their reflections, fearing to be killed by it, but that concept was never exploited in the movie.

Nonetheless, the investigation is interesting to follow and the actual few elements of horror might be enough to attract those interested in Asian horror films. Maybe not the next big thing for the horror genre, INTO THE MIRROR is indeed a great surprising thriller coming out of South-Korea.