Hide and Seek

(Spoilers)

Hide and Seek did smashing box office in S.Korea (as can be understood by looking at the dvd cover) and for good reason too I think. My God this film ended up being a strong one that actually unsettled me and scared me too.

Two of the three main leads I'm familiar with from dramas. And they did such a great job and the third one is the villain of the piece and she was so so good that I was actually scared for her adversaries.

The main reason that I was so unsettled is probably the class divide depicted so dominantly. I wanted to hate the villain but she was so obviously mad and this madness was probably caused by her poor economic condition that it was hard to watch her get her due.

There were some details I loved, such as how the poor girl rubbed her face in the doll and later when the rich girl started to rub her eyes the way I automatically wondered - and worried - that a disease may catch from the doll (especially so since the poor girl had a patch above her eye).

The other story was how our main lead was suffering from guilty conscience. What he did was indeed bad but he was just a kid and probably didn't think rationally. And he suffered all this life (well he ended up being rich but with severe OCD that kept on going even when the story ended - another great little touch was how he straightened the mat when he was putting it in the trunk). and he understood what he did wrong and had nightmares. And I felt for him and wanted him to be redeemed somehow.

The kids were great actors, the way the Korean kids usually are and I liked the sets and camera.

By the time the film ended I felt so bad and scared (home invasion is scary) that I even cut my prayers short and found peace in the oblivion of sleep.

Oh there are some mistakes in logic etc. but I didn't care. The film did what it was supposed to do and I highly recommend it for lovers of the genre.