Surprisingly good movie

I thought it was pretty good. Definitely unconventional, and for that it was refreshing. Too often East Asian horror movies tend to repeat the same tired cliches. No long-haired killer ghost in this one. In fact I'm not even sure this movie fully qualifies as a horror, though it definitely has horror elements to it.

I was surprised after I finished it that its reviews on Netflix are universally negative. Apparently the three actors are (or were at the time) members of a pop band, and some people seem predisposed to hate the movie on that basis, like "oh, pop stars trying to act, that's so lame". I thought they did a great job, honestly; the characters were very believable as people, to me.

I think there's also a cultural barrier here, with the underlying themes of the movie not resonating with Western audiences because of the different set of underlying beliefs reflected in it. To be sure, even if people "get it", people like what they like and not everyone will enjoy a film. But I think the cultural barrier is a contributing factor at least.

And finally I think another factor is that a lot of people were expecting the aforementioned overdone long-haired killer ghost, and were disappointed that the movie turned out to be something other than they expected. I notice some of the complaints on Netflix seem to be relating to the movie not being "scary" enough. One reviewer complained that there was "no gore". Another said they fast-forwarded through most of the movie, and then had the nerve to complain that they couldn't understand the ending. Go figure.

Anyway I really liked it. The twist at the end was really unusual and unexpected, and left me actually feeling sad. Definitely an underrated movie, IMO.