MovieChat Forums > Gwoemul (2007) Discussion > I don't understand the whole virus sub-p...

I don't understand the whole virus sub-plot...


First, they announce that the creature carries a deadly virus and that everyone who came into contact with it is infected. Later they announce that the American guy has died from the infection. Then you find out that they haven't found a single trace of the virus in any of the victims. HUH???

If they haven't found any trace of a virus, where did the whole "the creature carries a deadly virus" idea come from??? Why are doctors wasting their time trying to find a fictional virus that there's no trace of? Why would they even think that there was a virus in the first place?

I could understand if people were dying mysteriously and they thought that a virus was to blame, but there's no evidence that that's happening. You only hear about the American dying. Are the doctors supposed to be so incompetent that they can't tell the difference between someone dying from blood loss and shock and someone who is infected with a virus? Are they really so stupid that they would declare a quarantine and devote tons of resources to a non-existent virus based on the death of one person?

It would have also made sense if the government was using the story of a virus to cover something up, but again, there's no evidence of that. If they knew there was no virus, why would they waste so much time trying to catch this one family? Why would the doctors go along with it?

The whole virus plot makes absolutely no sense.

Did something get lost in the translation into English? Is there some cultural significance that I don't get because I'm American?

Did the doctors really go "Hey Bob, you know that guy that got his arm torn off by the monster? Well, he's not doing so good. Even though there's absolutely no evidence to support this diagnosis, I've come to the conclusion that he's suffering from a deadly virus that he became infected with because of his contact with the creature. Further, without any evidence whatsoever, I've decided that everyone who came into contact with the creature must also be infected. Let's start drilling into people's brains and see if we can find a sample of the virus!" "Sounds good Tom. I'll set up a quarantine so that we can round up all the people who aren't showing any symptoms and experiment on them!"

Can someone please explain this?


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The 'doctor' that leaked the info to the other doctor near the end actually said the army guy died from a heart attack, not from the virus. That was the 'secret'.

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The thing was it was a scare tactic. They didn't want the people to be near the river or engage the monster in combat. They needed to scare them to avoid contact with it so they can capture or kill it without any form of interference.

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It's really sad that people can't work that kind of really obvious stuff for themselves anymore, because Hollywood story telling has become so paint by numbers and prescriptive that there's need for inferences and interpretations.

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Naa, OP's right. It's a weird and confusing sub-plot, and I don't buy the explanation the earlier poster gave so if that's what they were going for.... Well, if they're just using it to keep people from the river, why pull military? They pulled military because of the virus, replacing them with bio-guys. And then they released the poisonous chemicals into the air. And then for some reason those chemicals instantly kill the group of protestors but the main family is completely unaffected. That didn't make sense either. So if those the virus is just a scare tactic, why combat the monster any different?

I more buy that the US is gonna to screw Korea, and they're doing so by making them mess everything up. But if that's the case, it just didn't work here. I like the family's story, and the monster was all right, but the virus plot lost itself simply because it lacked the proper logic.

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Agreed

I think the whole virus thing was put it to have the whole escaped patient/family on the run angle

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Oh *beep* off. Oh yeah it's such a deep complex plot and you're oh so clever right? No it's a massive plot hole that makes no sense. What is sad is that people on this board have to INVENT a backstory to make the plot holes fit. Scare tactic to keep people away from the river? So a massive alien predator creature that has been seen by hundreds of people wouldn't be a deterrent? LOL. It's actually the movie trying to be comedic by descending into farce, but it simply isn't done very well at all.

Jesus christ I cannot stand these *beep* hipsters and how they drool over any mediocre asian movie.

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And don't forget the dad got blood on his face, then ended up with itching sores on his back. What happened with that? All of a sudden, they aren't brought up again. Did they go away?

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I understand it now.

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