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DIGITAL

Opening Date

27 Mar 2025

Rating

To Be Advised

Runtime

91 mins

Language

Korean with English & Chinese subtitles

Genre

Mystery, Thriller

Director

Cho Jang-ho

Cast

Kang Ha-neul

Synopsis

No.1 subscribed live streamer – ‘IDOL’, specializes in criminal profiling and covering crime-related mystery cases. One day, ‘IDOL’ streams about an unsolved serial murder case and ends up unveiling the truth to some dark secrets through his channel.

Reviews

By InCinemas 28 Mar 2025

Serves to remind us on our responsibility when harnessing the power of the digital world.

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Streaming is a 91-minute crime thriller which explores the country’s obsessive streaming culture, featuring unethical actions and behaviour of livestreamers fighting to gain fame and monetary gains. Written and directed by Cho Jang-ho, the film stars Kang Ha-neul, Park Tae-san, Sung-yun Han and Choo Suk-young.

The entire story unfolds in real time through livestreaming, making it feel like an actual live broadcast. This feeling is further emphasised by instant chats with viewers and mid-roll ads, common features on streaming platforms like YouTube.

The film opens to a female livestreamer sharing her eerie last moments online before taking a leap to her death prompted by cyber-bullying. Before we can make sense of what we saw, the screen quickly switches and we are introduced to the pompous and obnoxious Woo-sang (Kang Ha-neul), dressed in a suit with an expensive watch. Woo-sang is the top livestreamer on the online streaming platform “WAG”, who gains a strong following for his broadcasts about profiling crime cases and broadcasting the process of uncovering clues to an unsolved serial murder case in real time. We learn that only the highest-ranked content creator receives all donation earnings on “WAG”.

We are continually bombarded by his boastful rantings that he is the only livestreamer capable of solving the ongoing serial killer case where female victims are tied up, strangled with a piece of their skirt cut off and taken as a memento by the killer. He shares clues about how the nicknamed “Hemline” serial killer could have abducted his latest victim and the possible route the killer has taken to avoid being captured by CCTV.

Woo-sang boasts that he will solve the case using “re-enactment” of the crime, an effective method used by FBI in US to solve even cold cases.
He then enlists the help of another streamer, Matilda to collaborate in the re-enactment of the latest killing. Unfortunately, this plan backfires as Matilda takes control of the broadcast, steals his limelight and all his talking points, making Woo-sang look pathetic. To add injury to insult, Matilda asks viewers to join her on HER channel for more updates on the case.

Woo-sung’s popularity plummets overnight. He is seen as a loser for getting betrayed by Matilda and even having his less-than-glorious past dug up to further seal him as a “loser” – his failure to enter the police academy multiple times and his embarrassing blunders on livestreams.
Despite losing his crown as the top streamer on “WAG”, Woo-sang continues to livestream. While livestreaming one day, a user keeps asking him why Matilda has not been livestreaming and urges him to look for her. From this point on, the movie suddenly switches to a different tempo. The audience is immediately sucked into the film, feeling Woo-sang’s emotions – stress, anxiety, and fear as he tries to unravel what happened to Matilda and where the kidnapper is hiding her, all the while livestreaming to his followers over the internet.

This is by far the best part of the film where the thrilling and deadly “cat and mouse” game begins with many surprising twists to the plot delivered effectively as Woo-sang chases down clues against time to save Matilda from the kidnapper and uncover the “Hemline” killer before he claims his next victim. At one point, it was nail-biting when viewers on the live broadcast keep encouraging the kidnapper to “cut” off something from Matilda’s body by continually giving “reward points” on the platform.

Sorry, no reveal of spoilers here! You have to catch the film and get fully immersed in the thrilling ride with Jang-woo as the entire story unfolds in real time through livestreaming and experience the many unexpected twists and turns of the chase.

I must say kudos to Kang Ha-nuel who did an amazing job as the central figure with almost 90% of the screentime. He is very convincing as the excessively egotistical livestreamer Woo-sang with his slicked back hair, three-piece suit, complete with tattoos and an expensive-looking watch as he makes up-close eye contact during the livestreaming scenes, constantly checking the live chat, then at the camera and then at his own monitor which mimics the whole livestreaming format.

Streaming is not a film for kids or the entire family but will appeal to adults seeking a good crime thriller set against a toxic social media environment where streamers will do anything to gain fame and money.
On personal note, this film serves to remind us on our responsibility when harnessing the power of the digital world. Unbeknownst to us, we may unwittingly participate in one form of cyberbulling or another as we leave negative comments on social media postings or livestreams without fully understanding the power of our words.
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