Seoul is reduced to rubble when a powerful earthquake strikes in the winter. One concrete apartment tower remains standing in the ruins. Violence breaks out as people realize that resources and shelters are extremely limited. The residents of the sole standing apartment tower divide into camps of those with empathy for other survivors and outsiders, and those who feel they are separate from everyone else and must beat others into submission to survive. A man and woman living in one of the apartments each picks a different side.
"I can look at a person and recognize if they are cheating me," says the man chosen as the apartment complex leader. In Korea each such complex has its own culture and rules, and this man - a former soldier - quickly assumes command. However, this chosen leader is hiding a dark side. Sparks fly between the couple as well as the complex as a whole as people line up behind the leader, or choose to disobey.
Director Um Tae-hwa said he is interested in how people are transformed during a crisis. The film is based on a Cheerful Neighbor web-comic story about a similar disaster where people become selfish bullies, or not. "There is no absolute evil or good," he said. The complex characters of the film reveal this truth. They are not black and white, and that is a good thing. Um Tae-hwa appeared at the North American premier at the Toronto International Film Festival. "If you post comments about the film on social media," he said "I will read them."
I loved the theme of the film; people choosing to bully others or to be kind to them, when a crisis hits. There are people who choose rules, violence, and other forms of separation, and those who choose kindness, love, and sharing. The characters are intriguing as well, the acting is solid, and commentary interesting. The film isn't using computer generated imagery as a crutch and pleasantly relies on more traditional forms of film making. Thought is given to each situation as well as human warmth and humor.
So, see what prevails, love or the fist.
