★★☆☆☆
Josh Park makes his directorial debut with Mary Kwon Mary Kwon, a film that tries to blend two parallel genres that often coincide but misses the mark, lacking the fundamentals of both genres.
Thrillers and horror often go hand in hand, as the best thrillers have horror aspects rooted within them: tension and the building of suspense due to the unknown.
The Silence of the Lambs and Funny Games are two films that come to mind that best showcase this style of genre blending.
It’s a genre blend that is difficult to pull off, and one that requires a certain level of detail and balance that Park has yet to acquire as a filmmaker.
The film tells the story of an English professor who takes a sabbatical after the death of her mother to visit her childhood home, which was foreclosed on.
Park lacks a clear vision, and it starts with the script. The film isn’t clear on the tone or subgenre of horror it’s trying to be.
Starting off as a ghost story and leaning fully into that aspect, the film eventually pivots. It never abandons the idea, just the structure and tone required to make it work.
Then, quietly shifting into what could be considered a home-invasion-style film, it loses its luster yet again as it tries to craft a backstory that, while not containing any obvious plot holes, gives the film a scattered and lost aura.
Park’s execution in the director’s chair only creates more disarray.
The pacing and tone are nonexistent. There are long, drawn-out scenes whose only purpose is to force-feed us the information needed to move the story along.
The introduction of the antagonist plays like a Scary Movie scene spoofing The Strangers.
It’s an awkward interaction through the door that stems from a lack of vision. The dialogue sounds as if it were written as satire, but the scene is directed as grounded, with performances that fall on both sides of the spectrum.
The dinner scene is filler designed to tell us all the information needed without actually working that information into the story. It’s a mere context dump that is poorly executed.
The cinematography, not unlike the rest of the film, lacks clear vision and context.
It brings a variety of shots and techniques to capture the story, but only a handful of times do they feel intentional.
Most of the film feels disconnected, as if the camera were merely set up and forgotten about, lacking the ability to create or emulate emotion.
The performances lack direction and are all over the place. There’s not a single strong performance in the film. For most of it, it feels as if the actors were given conflicting direction, resulting in completely different tones and approaches to the same story.
Mary Kwon Mary Kwon showcases a first-time filmmaker taking a big risk and missing the mark completely. It’s a case where less would have been more, and a lack of consistency is killer.
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