Murder Report

Story: Journalist Seon-joo (Cho Yeo-jeong) has lost the trust of her employer due to a recent incident. Therefore, it seems like a godsend when a stranger contacts her, requesting an interview - he claims to have already killed eleven people. If Seon-joo interviews him, she could save the life of a potential twelfth victim. She's forbidden from involving the police, but since she isn't suicidal, she confides in her good friend, Lt. Han Sang-woo (Kim Tae-han). Together, they devise a plan to maintain control at all times during her planned meeting with the killer at a hotel. Sang-woo stays one floor below the room where the meeting is to take place. He also has a key to the apartment where the killer will meet the reporter. Furthermore, the police officer and the journalist communicate via an earpiece. When the killer (Jung Sung-il) appears, Seon-joo initially demands proof of his murders. Since all the killings were recorded, the killer is quickly able to fulfill this request. Now there is no longer any doubt about the interviewee's credibility, and the killer soon reveals that he is a psychiatrist and committed the murders for his patients. He sees this as treatment for his patients and is very successful with this method. He hopes the journalist will ask him tough questions because he wants his motives examined. However, this is not the only reason he chose Seon-joo, as will soon become clear...

Review: A film set primarily in a hotel room, where a killer and a reporter engage in a cat-and-mouse game, might seem like a low-budget production, but that's far from the truth. Fortunately, the story, like those low-budget-films that rely on narrative strength, also delivers. A particularly positive aspect is its exploration of moral questions surrounding revenge, the potential for emotional healing through it, and the resulting problems of guilt. And it does so with considerable depth and without the heavy-handed moralizing that we've unfortunately come to expect nowadays. This gives "Murder Report" a particularly mature feel, making it one of those films without simplistic black-and-white moralizing, a style formerly at home in Hong Kong productions, but sadly not seen from China-productions anymore. The killer isn't simply a cruel devil in human form; his victims are terrible people, at times even monsters, and he uses the murders as a form of therapy. The journalist serves as his form of supervision, but of course the director also plays on the possibility that Seon-joo herself might not be so innocent and therefore has to fear for her life. The suspense is palpable at all times and thus makes action scenes of any kind unnecessary.

Those familiar with the genre will certainly be able to predict some things, but ultimately the story offers enough twists and turns and lays enough false trails that even seasoned genre fans might find a surprise or two. And the killer knows how to manipulate and unsettle our protagonist. For example, early on, in her conversation with the detective, it becomes clear that she's currently having problems with her daughter, who is secretly carrying a razor in her bag. When the killer then mentions that he wants to kill someone who disfigured a student with a razor, the whole thing takes on a completely new dimension for the woman. And we, of course, are constantly wondering what game the killer is playing. That he is undoubtedly in control and means business is evident from the fact that he has thought ahead several steps and also wants to show Seon-joo that she should show him the necessary respect – which is why he commits a murder right in front of her.

Of course, it's important to instill a good deal of fear in the protagonist, and our killer possesses the necessary unpredictability for this, although he doesn't come across as a madman. In fact, it's quite difficult for us not to feel sympathy for him after hearing his story relatively early on and learning why he does what has become second nature to him. His victims, too, aren't exactly the kind of people whose deaths we would mourn. This is precisely the moral dilemma the story aims to create for us. Jung Sung-il ("Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy") is also presented to us as a psychiatrist who tries, in a very extreme way, to heal his patients and to shift the blame for the secretly desired murders onto himself, or to relieve them of this guilt should they still feel it. It is very rare that he allows himself to be swayed from his path of personal honor. He remains a powerful figure, one whom you must only truly fear if you have caused someone significant (psychological) harm. It is not without reason that the journalist describes him as a vigilante.

Cho Yeo-jeong ("Parasite") also delivers a strong performance as the film's protagonist. Unfortunately, the script requires us to maintain an emotional distance from her, as we must consider the possibility that she herself might have skeletons in her closet. Director Cho Young-Jun, who also directed the remake "Midnight Sun" that same year, certainly knows how to create a tense atmosphere and keep us guessing about who the villain really is and what good and evil truly mean. To reiterate: "Murder Report" isn't a philosophical treatise that requires us to be familiar with the various thought processes of the most renowned ethics experts, but as a thriller, it manages to be entertaining while posing some uncomfortable questions. The writing isn't entirely flawless, as we notice particularly towards the end, where a few inconsistencies emerge. Nevertheless, a considerable amount of work has clearly gone into the story.

The pace of this thriller may not be exceptionally fast, but the dense atmosphere, built entirely through dialogue and mind games in a hotel room, keeps you on the edge of your seat. A film like "Murder Report" could easily backfire and become simply boring, as the story itself, despite the aforementioned praise, isn't particularly original. However, what the film does with it is commendable. For example, it could have used twist after twist to keep us engaged, but that would have shown a lack of confidence in the script. Instead, the few surprises it does offer have weight and point the way forward. The ending, in particular, unexpectedly re-examines an aspect we thought we'd already considered resolved. The plot developments offer a fresh perspective on everything. "Murder Report" isn't a masterpiece, but it's a film that knows what it wants and skillfully achieves it thanks to its atmosphere and dialogue. Therefore, it's not just for thriller fans.

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