Sorum (DVD)

Sorum rhymes with “bore’em” for a reason. I guess whenever the PR line for a movie uses words like as “moody”, “understated”, or “subtle”, I should know that all translates to “snore-fest”. But I like to go into every movie with an open mind.

Sorum follows Yong-hyun (Kim Myeong), a cab driver who’s just moved into a dilapidated apartment building that makes the Dark Water rental look like a palace (and there’s no Jennifer Connelly here). Before the ink on his check is dry, he finds out that an awful death took place in the very rooms that he’s renting — but that doesn’t deter Yong-hyun from getting his jollies with the married neighbor woman or chumming up with a mysterious author who’s vocabulary obviously does not include the word “housework”.

As Yong-hyun goes about his incredibly slow routine day after day after day, events take place in the building which lead him to suspect that a supernatural force is trying to tell him something… or he just haunted by his own dark past?

Shot in Korea, Sorum is not necessarily badly directed and the actors are all quite good — but the pace is slower than a three-legged tortoise. A predictable script is made all the more lifeless by a grayish-green color palette and music that sounds s though it was composed by Rip Van Winkle’s sleepier brother. The cinematographer apparently loves long, static, unedited master shots of two people sitting and talking.

The characters have potential —  Yong-hyun is humanized by his pet hamster, and his fandom of Bruce Lee; his girlfriend Sun-yeong (Jeong Jin-yeong) is appropriately sympathetic as the abused wife — but they both do such dumb, unbelievable things (between the long, tedious bits during which they basically do nothing) that most watchers will not be willing to stick with them till the bitter end.

Perhaps if you’re in the mood for a slow-burn drama, Sorum is worth a peek. Horror fans should look elsewhere.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson