‘Unlocked’ Review: A Thriller on the Risk of Modern Surveillance

Smartphones have become part of us in such a way that we are not closer than ever to what you imagine a cyborg would be. A person who is half human and half machine. What science fiction writers of the past never imagined was that it would not be our hands or legs that would get exchanged for machine parts but our brains. Unlocked is a new South Korean techno-thriller on Netflix that will make you anxious about the risks of phone surveillance, and it will make you realize just how much information about yourself is given for free.

The film is directed by Kim Tae-joon, and stars Chun Woo-hee, Ye-won Kim, Yim Si-wan, and Park Ho-san. The movie tells the story of a young Na-mi, a hard-working girl who shares her time between his father’s café and a new startup company where she has put a lot of time and effort. One day, Na-mi loses her phone, and it is found by the wrong hands. From there, Na-mi’s life will be hijacked by Jun-yeong, a creepy but smart stalker who has already leveled-up to serial killer status.

South Korea has been making crime thrillers for decades now, making some of the best in recent memory. South Korean directors, writers, and actors all have the ability to go to really dark places. And thanks to their proficiency in putting things on screen, it seems like every movie they made is, at the least, very well shot and produced. Unlocked feels just like the most standard of South Korean productions, which is already way above what the American and European industries are doing on a daily basis.

Unlocked isn’t precisely new. Actually, the movie is quite predictable. As the first act unfolds itself in front of us, we can see all the little hints that we have seen many times before in other movies dealing with the same subject or others outside of it. Many tropes and archetypes are being used here. So, it would be surprising if someone labeled Unlocked as unoriginal. They would be right. However, familiarity doesn’t make a movie objectively wrong, so while predictable in every way, the movie can still be entertaining.

The best thing about the film are the performances. Chun Woo-hee, makes for the perfect protagonist for a film like this one. She is cute, and charming but also a bit clumsy, so you are completely rooting for her at the beginning of the film. You know that even when she has passed out on the floor from having drunk a bit too much the previous night, that she is a good person, and doesn’t deserve anything bad happening to her. So when things come crashing down, you are there with her, wishing it could be the other way around.

Kim Ye-won also makes a very strong impression; she starts just as the perfect sidekick to the story and then develops into something much more interesting, and let’s leave it at that to avoid spoilers. Meanwhile, Yim Si-wan is our villain of the week and is great at being unsettling. His fake charm is quite strong, and you already know that he is the type of person you need to stay away from. He is quite scary during some scenes, which makes a real contrast to his good looks. However, the archetype of the handsome serial killer has been played out a lot by this point.

In terms of visuals, the film has this very clear look that has become the standard for South Korean productions. However, director Kim Tae-joon, and his cinematographer manage to compose and still permeate the scenes with a sense of darkness. Overlit scenes have been an issue lately, both on film and television, but this movie looks exactly as you want a modern thriller to look. We are far away from the glorious days of the dark and grainy thrillers from the late 90s and early 2000s, but this is not a complete miss.

The story might be quite predictable, but the way Yim Si-wan’s character goes about doing his wrong deeds is quite unnerving. You can totally imagine that there are people out there doing what he does right now. The thought is freighting, and as his actions become darker and darker, they will make reflect on your own digital habits and in the way you use your phone daily. There are some common sense tips taught in this movie that more people should apply in real life, so pay attention.

In the end, Unlocked is a fairly entertaining techno-thriller that will increase your anxiety every time you use your phone for anything. The story is quite predictable, so if you are waiting for big surprises and you are already a big thriller fan, this might not be the movie that will do good by you in that department. The performances are solid, and the movie overall is just another proof of how amazing the South Korean film industry is at producing and delivering content to the masses.

SCORE: 7/10