Recalled (2021)

Good one-time-watch

Recalled is a decent psychological thriller. Nothing too extraordinary, but slightly better than the average thriller.

With no further prelude or introductory elements the viewer is pulled right into the story, seeing things through the eyes of the main character Soo-Jin (Seo Yea Ji) , who has lost her memory due to an accident and struggles to distinguish between reality and illusion, going to the extent that at some point she even starts to suspect her husband.

The actual "mystery" is pretty predictable, but seeing things through Soo-Jin's eyes and witnessing her emotions, her horror and fright uncovering things actually made the plot interesting, far from gripping or engaging but enough to keep one invested. Seo Yea Ji once again proves her versatility as an actress and her capability to convey conflicted emotions to the viewer with ease. Kim Kang-Woo got some bigger parts in the second half and the chemistry of this on-screen-couple was also surprisingly pleasant. The rest of the cast had some minor roles and were frankly, quite forgettable.

The last 30 minutes or so were quite surprising, leading to a switch in genre and making this movie stand out from other psychological thrillers of this kind. While the rest of the movie, plot- wise felt more like a 6.5- 7 rating, the later parts turned it into a 8 for me.

So is it worth watching? Yes, if you are up for a decent thriller, do not expect too much from it and have spare time, go for it. And especially yes, if you like Seo Yea Ji's acting and her unconventional choice in scripts.

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always choose the 2nd lead!

1st of all I have to say, I'm a huge fan of both SYJ and KKW, but I'm not biased when I say their acting performance was amazing!

I'm not sure if they were purposely "obvious" cuz they just wanted the journey not the shock value, or if it's just as I call it "mystery genres are dead"

I have lost hope in all crime genres and mysteries, it's been atleast 5 years since I thought a twist was shocking or revolutionary so it's nothing new for a twist to not faze me, and indeed I saw through it all but still it was a great watch


now for the story, to be honest, with stories like this there's always 2 options; it's real or it's fake. we've seen so many stories about having visions of the future so it's not that shocking to see her believe it, but I'll say the writer played it too safe by making all the "unfortunate" events around girls and worse, those girls didn't talk

so the only outcome is, memories, ie recalling which shows how a good title can atleast hide the plot, or they never intended to


so basically their plot twist was obvious, they wanted to make us doubt Seon Woo because that's where it usually leads to, the girl who forgets and the killer who pretends to be her husband, Secret Obsession had that plot to T. so even if the 1st time it seems "twisty", I knew they weren't going there..
also, actually the point I liked this was how obviously Seon Woo loved her. though as an actor I know he can pull both the sweet and the dark so I didn't doubt him as a serial killer but it was a nice subtle touch. as if to say "never doubt him"

also the fact that Yeom Hye Ran came and heavily implied that her husband abused her was a clear sign, also the way Seon Woo acted when he finally got caught, as if he was begging Soo Jin to believe his lies..



now the only thing that shocked me was how Ji Hoon was alive xD I thought that was another recalculation leading to the moment she got hurt, but it was wrapped up too fast and I hated how they had to kill Seon Woo cuz you know, he killed before and he's a main so he can't have a happily ever after

so I refuse to acknowledge that ending and will think they both finally fled their misfortunes and lived happily ever after

ok, I'll complain more on how both events would've been "self defense" so they reeeaaalllly didn't need to hide it or even worse bury a live body..

the ost was basic but I appreciated the low volume on the chewing, and I'd actually want to rewatch this but I would want the fire and hospital scene cut xD

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