A mysterious tale of the root of sin and being subject to eternal judgement.
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The Sin is written and directed by Han Dong-seok and premiered at the 41st edition of the Torino Film Festival. It features a strong cast of actors with Kim Yoon-hye as Shi Young, Song Yi-jae as Chae Yoon, Park Ji-hoon as Hwi Wook and Lee Sang-ah as Chairwoman Yoon.
The film combines elements of Korean style horror with a thought-provoking narrative and strong visuals. The audience is immersed in the ominous atmosphere of the film and subject to numerous scares packed within a duration of 1 hour and 40 minutes. The cinematography is amazing with the camera capturing all of the horror of the characters within the setting of an abandoned school.
The Sin explores the mysterious story about the root of sin and being subject to eternal judgement. It challenges the premise of the origin of human sin and whether humans are born with sin or become sinners throughout their lifetime. Many questions are posed which the film attempts to answer: Who can truly stand for the final judgment? Where does our sin truly originate? Could it be that we are born with the inherent essence of sin? Does guilt and revenge justify committing sin?
The movie begins with Si Young, an ex-dancer and a woman cursed and tormented by her inability to fully remember her past. We follow Si Young as she attends an interview by Hwi Wook and is offered the key role as the main star in an experimental art movie centred around her dance performance.
The film then takes us to an abandoned school in a remote rural village which is used as the shooting location. Upon her arrival at the location, Si Young walks hesitantly towards the main building. Before she even enters the building, an incident occurs which startles the audience and triggers Si Young’s anxiety attacks in which the audience is show remnants of Si Young’s past which she is able to remember. Si Young is further surprised to discover that that her university friend Chae Yoon is involved in the choreography of the main dance sequence as this was not told to her before she accepted the role and there appears to be tension between the two. Nevertheless, filming continues and under the direction by director Hwi Wook, they perform geometric dance routines which resembles a shamanic ritual.
Subsequently, everything changes drastically when an incident occurs at the shooting location where a staff member is seemingly possessed by supernatural power and leaps off the roof. Moments later, the shattered body on the ground comes back to life like a zombie causing panic and terror as other staff members are attacked and transformed into blood thirsty monsters.
Amidst the ensuing chaos, Si Young and Chae Yoon struggle to survive without fully understanding the true cause. The film escalates from here on and the dark side related to the cursed Si Young is unveiled and the audience is left watching in fearful trepidation as to what horrors face the two women while questioning if human negative emotions – fear, selfishness, greed, jealousy and revenge only help to fuel more sins. Will Si Young and Chae Yoon survive the madness? Is there more to these two protagonists leading up to the carnage? What part does director Hwi Wook plays in this turn of events? You will get no spoilers here, so please watch the film to find out the answers.
The Sin successfully combines multiple horror genres with elements of Korean folklore and superstitions thrown in alongside ghosts, zombies and witchcraft as well as the psychological traumas suffered by people which adds an extra layer of depth and resonance to the story being told.
Director Han Dong-seok successfully serves up an unconventional chilling tale with a number of twists designed to confuse the audience momentarily and which was extremely intriguing to the end. The way the horror is effectively infused into the backstory of the two protagonists which hints at some trauma creates an environment of disorientation for the audience which also leaves a pervading feeling of the inherent wrongness of situation. Dong-Seok retains the sense of drama throughout film, whether in the introduction of characters or the revelations disclosed throughout the film and he successfully retains distinctive elements of the gritty arthouse aesthetic.
Yoon-hye as Si Young and Yi-jae as Chae Yoon give excellent performances as their characters evolve in the film and are faced with no small numbers of horrors. Their on-screen chemistry is incredible and helps the audience to remain invested in their characters..
I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of The Sin and particularly appreciate the scares. However, I recommend you watch it with a friend or partner if you are easily frightened as the spine-tingling scares along the way may leave you curling up in your seat and terrified of being alone.
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