The Witness is an excellent South Korean psychological thriller. The story revolves around a man who kidnaps a young woman who manages to escape but gets beaten to death in front of a modern apartment complex. A young family father witnesses the incident but is seen by the psychopath and feels too scared to intervene. He keeps the burden of that terrible secret for days and is often close to crack but realizes that the psychopath is stalking him and menacing his wife and daughter. A woman who saw the murderer on the night of the killing and a mentally challenged adult who is strolling the area are soon getting murdered as well. Our helpless protagonist must decide whether he should remain silent and protect his family or tell the truth and confront the psychopath.
This movie includes lots of bleak social criticism and especially the final scenes are brutally revealing in that regard. It's easy to point fingers and criticize the protagonist for failing to inform the police about what he saw but the way people around him react make his motives easier to understand and even evoke some empathy. The shocking truth is that some people care more about the reputation of an apartment complex than about a human life.
The Witness doesn't only offer food for thought but is really suspenseful from start to finish. The silent but pitiless antagonist is the most dangerous psychopath since I Saw the Devil almost a decade earlier. The way the antagonist stalks, observes and menaces his victims is absolutely haunting.
The acting performances are credible, diversified and fascinating. The audience cares about every character involved for one reason or another.
While the beginnig of the movie is a creepy psychological thriller, the second half quickens up the pace, increases the body count and features tough action sequences. If you like conservative whodunits, this movie isn't for you. You need a solid mind and stomach to fully digest this masterpiece.
Anyone who is looking for an intense psychological thriller meandering between realistic drama and horror elements can't get around this overlooked masterpiece however. This movie is the greatest of its type in many years.
This movie includes lots of bleak social criticism and especially the final scenes are brutally revealing in that regard. It's easy to point fingers and criticize the protagonist for failing to inform the police about what he saw but the way people around him react make his motives easier to understand and even evoke some empathy. The shocking truth is that some people care more about the reputation of an apartment complex than about a human life.
The Witness doesn't only offer food for thought but is really suspenseful from start to finish. The silent but pitiless antagonist is the most dangerous psychopath since I Saw the Devil almost a decade earlier. The way the antagonist stalks, observes and menaces his victims is absolutely haunting.
The acting performances are credible, diversified and fascinating. The audience cares about every character involved for one reason or another.
While the beginnig of the movie is a creepy psychological thriller, the second half quickens up the pace, increases the body count and features tough action sequences. If you like conservative whodunits, this movie isn't for you. You need a solid mind and stomach to fully digest this masterpiece.
Anyone who is looking for an intense psychological thriller meandering between realistic drama and horror elements can't get around this overlooked masterpiece however. This movie is the greatest of its type in many years.