YoonA, who has made a determined upgrade, and new face Ahn Bo-hyun joined forces, but the threshold set by Jo Jung-seok was high. This refers to the new work of the director of 'Exit', 'The Devil Has Come'.
The director's delightful and innovative imagination, which he brought out after 'Exit', was once again pure and harmless. Unlike his previous work, which mixed disaster, comedy, and family drama, this time it is a genre mix of mystery (?) and comedy, and melodrama.
Unfortunately, this time, none of the elements are engaging, resembling a scattered collage.
The film depicts the pink struggles of Seon-ji (Im YoonA), who wakes up as a devil every dawn due to a curse passed down through generations, and a young unemployed man, Gil-gu (Ahn Bo-hyun), who gets caught up in a part-time job monitoring her.
The setup is intriguing, but the characters do not keep up with the depth of that setup.
Im YoonA took on the challenge of playing both the angelic Seon-ji by day and the possessed devil Seon-ji by night.
However, the contrast is overly contrived and flat. The episodes that repeat the 'innocent Seon-ji vs. crazy Seon-ji' structure quickly become clichéd, and especially the devil mode is more embarrassing than attractive. (At least, since YoonA is pretty and cute, it can be watched with a smile.)
Gil-gu, played by Ahn Bo-hyun, is an outwardly masculine but introverted and passive 'harmless pushover' male lead. Their combination is visually acceptable, but it fails to create any special synergy in terms of narrative or emotional depth.
Above all, each element is so shallow that the genre mix feels meaningless. Horror is sprinkled like seasoning, comedy is scattered, and melodrama is bland.
The director's unique warm and clean direction remains, but the drama that should support the story is loose. The music is particularly artificial and focuses on a 'sparkly' tone, making it feel tacky. Due to the flimsy story, the emotional arcs of the characters also fail to delve deeper, merely skimming the surface of the setup.
The major device of the 'devil's curse' and the connecting thread of 'family secrets' are overly flat and clichéd, failing to evoke any emotional depth or even a hint of thrill. At this point, what this work leaves behind is merely an ambiguous sense of genre and the visuals of the actors.
Most importantly, although Jo Jung-seok did not appear, this work never escapes the 'shadow of Jo Jung-seok'. Given the significant halo of the director's previous work 'Exit', the pun 'falls short of Jo Jung-seok' is the most realistic standard this work must bear. It makes one realize how unique the energy, depth, and trend of 'actor Jo Jung-seok' truly are. A delicious taste, even if familiar, is not something just anyone can produce. P.S. I said 'Zombie Daughter' also fell short of expectations, but this is truly lacking.
Released on August 13. Rated for ages 12 and up. Running time 112 minutes. The break-even point is about 1.7 million.
