Noise

Inter-floor noise disputes in densely occupied residential buildings have emerged in recent years as a uniquely urgent social issue in the cities of South Korea, where news outlets report that the number of violent crimes attributed to these conflicts has risen dramatically over the last decade. With his deftly executed first feature, director Kim Soo-jin taps thrillingly into the abundant cinematic possibilities afforded by the phenomenon, earning the director a place among the most prodigious new voices in Korean horror. Sisters Ju-young (Lee Sun-bin) and Ju-hee (Han Soo-a) are excited to move into their first shared home as young adults, but shortly after their arrival, Ju-hee mysteriously disappears—and Ju-young, who wears a hearing aid, starts to perceive a barrage of weird, portentous frequencies that seem to emanate from the building itself. The sensory effects of Ju-young’s hearing impairment are rendered vivid and immersive via a layered, thrillingly suggestive soundscape that builds in intensity as the young woman looks for her sister, while fending off the threats and ravings of a fellow tenant whose own unaccountable noise complaints inspire increasingly erratic and aggressive behavior towards the neighbors he holds responsible.