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Fantasia 2025: Noise Review
Image Credit: Fantasia IFF
Loading...Directed by: Kim Soo-jin
Written by: Lee Je-hui
Starring:
Lee Sun-bin – Ju-young
Han Su-a – Ju-hee
Kim Min-seok – Ki-hoon
Ryu Kyung-soo – Joong-sim
Jeon Ik-ryeong – Jeong-in
Running Time: 93 minutes
Not Rated
As anyone that has lived in an apartment complex knows, dealing with neighbors isn’t always easy. That’s especially true if the walls are thin; noise bleeding through can lead to rough times, particularly if the apartment next to you – or especially above or below – can’t or won’t stop being loud. Footsteps on the ceiling and other, more nebulous thumps and thuds can make apartment living an absolute nightmare.
But what if those sounds were something even more ominous? That’s the concept that Noise presents. South Korean director Kim Soo-jin’s new horror film, which screened at Fantasia International Film Festival on Thursday, mines its chills from the indistinct and creepy ambient sounds that haunt apartment buildings. Kim sets an assured stage in his feature debut, with plenty of mood at play to enhance the mystery at the core of the film.
Noise stars Lee Sun-bin as Ju-young, a hearing-impaired woman who has started a new job that keeps her away from her estranged younger sister Ju-hee (Han Su-a). Ju-hee lives in the apartment they were previously sharing and begins hearing strange sounds in the apartment that drive her to extreme behavior without her big sister there to help.
When Ju-hee disappears, Ju-young heads back to the apartment to investigate. Strange things begin happening; she starts to hear intensely creepy noises through her hearing aids, and the man from the apartment below starts to become dangerously threatening as he claims she’s being too loud.
Ju-young has ominous encounters with the building’s chairwoman, who seems more concerned with the building’s renovation plans, and soon teams up with Ju-hee’s boyfriend (Kim Min-seok) to determine what’s going on. As they start to delve deeper into the building’s dark past, an ominous presence makes itself known and buried secrets begin to come to light.
There’s a lot going on in Noise that will seem quite recognizable to fans of Korean horror – or, frankly, anyone who knows the tropes of supernatural mysteries. The story is rather well-trod territory – a lead character with guild over a traumatic past, a filial connection that goes missing, a cast of shady-seeming characters and dark secrets waiting to be unearthed. There’s nothing in the narrative that reinvents the wheel.
Instead, the key to Kim’s film is how well it’s all put together. That starts first and foremost with the standout sound work which puts is in Ju-young’s perspective in key moments, both when she is and isn’t wearing her hearing aids. The sound design work is absolutely stellar in building the intensity through the perspective of Ju-young and other characters, to the point that Noise makes us fall for a couple well-placed jump scares because we’re so wrapped up in the ambient sounds.
More importantly, the design allows audiences to buy into the performances, which are led by a capable lead protagonist in Lee Sun-bin. Lee does fine work as the investigating sister who is thrust into a dangerous situation. She’s an easy character to get behind and Lee makes her resourceful without being infallible. Among the supporting cast members, Back Joo-hee towers as the building association chairwoman and leans into the more mysterious elements of her character to keep audiences guessing.
Kim Soo-jin knows what he’s going for here and while he plays within the familiar bonds of horror, he does it well. He’s good at ramping up the suspense of a moment and while it’s not an overly gory movie, the moments that we do get are quite effective. He works best around the nooks and crannies of the apartments, the narrow avenues of the building and other tight places, giving a nice boost to the unwelcome nature of the setting.
There’s a bit of thematic material here that is hinted at but could have been delved deeper; notably, the guilt that caused the siblings’ strife perhaps could have been fleshed out a bit more, and the answers we get to the mystery are not the most compelling. But the journey trumps the destination on this one and for most people looking for a well-paced supernatural horror mystery, Noise’s excellent performance and direction will leave them viscerally satisfied.
The Fantasia International Film Festival takes place in Montreal from July 16th through August 3rd.
