A Day Film Review (하루) (2017) – Korean Time Loop

(This is A Day film review, which is a 2017 Korean movies that involves a story of time looping)

A Day is a Korean film that is directed by Jo Sun Ho, which also makes this his first directorial debut for the big screen. Its cast includes Kim Myung Min, Byun Yo Han and Shin Hye Sun. With this being his first film that combines Korean drama with a time loop aspect, would it be a great watching experience? Read on A Day film review to find out!

Premise

When a famous surgeon who has not been taking care of his own daughter saw her die in an accident, a time loop begins that makes him relive that single day each time. He has to uncover the secret behind the incident and in turn, discover something that is far more than what he expected. Could he solve the mystery and eventually escape from the loop?

A Day Film Review

As far as time loop stories go, most end up focusing on the sci-fi part of it and for the most part, it ends up being a very lonely journey, focusing on the main character’s inner turmoil throughout the ordeal. This movie I think does it’s best to subvert the typical time loop story by leaning off the sci-fi aspect and instead focusing on the characters themselves and the drama aspect. This film’s plot is like an onion, as the story progresses you just peel back layer after layer, twist after twist, revelation after revelation. It packs a lot of plot into 90 minutes and left me captivated the whole way through. A film does not need to be long to be good and it feels like this film knows that, it does not overstay its welcome and wraps things up rather nicely too although in my opinion a bit too nicely.

This film’s character development and arc are excellent and intrinsically linked with the plot’s many twists and turns. I do not want to spoil too much as you should experience it yourself give the opportunity. The whole cast is pretty great and yes, similar to typical Korean films, it is very melodramatic but, it made me care for its characters so I feel the melodrama works. There are also some subtle hints here and there which hint as certain twists later in the film. I really like that. The scriptwriting here is pretty smart.

I only have one glaring complaint where the scriptwriting falters and there is a “Martha BVS” like the sequence in which a particular conflict could have been resolved had a single piece of information been said out loud. Seriously. You were doing so well movie. Why?

A Day Film Review (하루) (2017) – Korean Time Loop

Story

Pacing

Characters

Soundtrack

Reader Rating0 Votes0

What's good

Interesting time loop premise

Multilayered characters that are complex

Focuses much more on the human drama rather than the time loop sector

What's bad

Soundtrack is unremarkable

DAYUM!

One of the best Korean debut films of 2017!

For being his debut film, Jo Sun Ho has managed to whip out a truly wonderful tale that combines the famous Korean drama with the incredible usage of time loop in delivering the story.

[A Day film review score table]

Author Details

Author Details

Oscar Sim

A film enthusiast who wishes more people would share in the appreciation of films. I hate spoilers and some of the best experiences are had when you go into a film knowing absolutely nothing. I try to be as impartial as possible and generally will be optimistic towards my scoring of a film so if I give a low review…well, it’s bad.

oscar.sim343@hotmail.com