[HanCinema's Film Review] "Sinkhole"

The housing issue in Seoul has been a recurring one for Korean cinema, with a number of films dealing either with the difficulty of securing even an apartment ("Homeless") or the destruction brought by the large development boom in the 80s ("House of Hummingbird"). Kim Ji-hoon combines these two elements in a film that also functions as a combination of a disaster movie and "Journey to the Center of the Earth".

"Sinkhole" is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

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After years of hard and sacrifices, Dong-won has managed to buy an apartment in Seoul, and he could not be more happy about it, to the point that not even a rather annoying neighbor, Jeong Man-soo, or some issues with the construction of the building, seem to bother him at all. On a fateful day, however, he decides to invite his colleagues for a housewarming party, and through the intense consumption of alcohol, a series of secrets and truths come to the fore. The worse, however, comes a bit later, when the heavy rain pouring during the night creates a gigantic sinkhole, which, in a matter of minutes, swallows up the whole building and the people inside. Now, hundreds of meters below the surface, the five survivors must find a way to climb out, while rain starts to pour down the hole.

Kim Ji-hoon directs a film that is split into two parts. The first one functions more as a social drama/comedy, through a rather interesting approach that allows both to entertain, and to comment on the housing issue in Seoul. Furthemore, Man-soo's arc emerges as a rather interesting one, since his obnoxiousness and cheating ways are eventually revealed as having to do with his tense relationship with his son. The office and the apartment block "politics" also come to the fore, through an approach, though, that remains comedic for the most part.

The rather impressive sinking of the building (essentially the most impressive scene in the whole film) changes the narrative completely, with the movie becoming a disaster/action one, although the splashes of drama and comedy are always there. Gradually, realism gives its place to impression, which results in a series of rather unlikely events, which remain, though, quite entertaining, particularly due to the high quality of production values.

In that regard, the combination of the set design, in the way the ruined apartments are depicted underground, the SFX that focus on gravity and the consequences it could have in such a situation, and the way Shin Tae-ho's camera captures all the above, is truly outstanding.

Regarding the acting, Cha Seung-won shines as Man-soo, with his obnoxiousness being quite entertaining in the first part, as much as the transformation he undergoes during the second, although the melodrama is not missing from this aspect. Kim Sung-kyun is hilarious as Park Dong-won, while Lee Kwang-soo and Kim Hye-jun as his colleagues provide a number of rather memorable moments.

"Sinkhole" is a bit of a mixed bag, particularly in the way of how dissimilar its two parts are, but in the end, emerges as a very entertaining movie, in blockbuster fashion, that also manages to make a few realisting and pointy social comments.

Review by Panos Kotzathanasis

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"Sinkhole" is directed by Kim Ji-hoon, and features Cha Seung-won, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Kwang-soo, Kim Hye-jun, Nam Da-reum, Kim Hong-pa. Release date in Korea: 2021/08/11.