Intruder (Korean침입자; RRChimipja) is a 2020 South Korean mystery thriller film written and directed by Sohn Won-pyung, starring Song Ji-hyo and Kim Mu-yeol. The story is about Yoo-jin who returns home after going missing 25 years ago. As their family gradually begins to change after her return, her older brother Seo-jin grows suspicious and seeks to uncover his sister's secret, which leads him to a shocking truth. It was released on June 4, 2020.[2][3][4] The movie will be available exclusively on iQIYI with multi-languages subtitles in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Philippines in September.

Intruder
Theatrical release poster
Hangul
침입자
Hanja
侵入者
Revised RomanizationChimipja
Directed bySohn Won-pyung[1]
Written bySohn Won-pyung
Produced byJang Won-suk
Park Kyung-won
StarringSong Ji-hyo
Kim Mu-yeol
Edited byKim Chang-ju
Music byKim Tae-hoon
Production
company
B.A. Entertainment
Distributed byAce Maker Movie
Release date
  • June 4, 2020 (2020-06-04)
Running time
102 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeUS$ 4.2 million

Plot

edit

Kang Seo-jin (Kim Mu-yeol) is an architect who lost his wife nearly six months ago in a hit and run accident. Stricken with the grief of not finding the driver responsible, he struggles to manage his work and take care of his daughter.

Seo-jin's daughter Ye-na still doesn't know about her mother's death. Seo jin gets a call from an orphanage that claims that his long-lost sister was found after 25 years, Kang Yoo-jin (Song Ji-hyo). He meets her but neither have clear memories about what happened on the day of her abduction. The family goes to the hospital where Yoo-jin works and meet a fellow nurse, Yeon-joo, who praises Yoo-jin.

Yoo-jin soon wins over her entire family. Seo-jin's parents and daughter start acting different with him and instead listen to only Yoo-jin. Seo-jin becomes suspicious and wonders if she is really his lost sister. The police inform him about new evidence in his wife's accident. He notices Yoo-jin in the footage, making him even more suspicious. He consults his psychiatrist friend for hypnosis therapy. He sees the driver who hit his wife and his "sister" watching from a distance. He goes to the orphanage but finds that it doesn't exist. He then discovers that Yeon-joo was hired by Yoo-jin to tell her family about her being a nurse. Enraged, he reveals this to his family. Yoo-jin apologizes and says she wanted to create a good impression. Their mother faints and is taken to hospital, where Seo-jin manages to get a strand of Yoo-jin's hair. He takes the sample for a DNA analysis.

One night Seo-jin gets a call from a realtor that there is someone in his old home. When he gets there, he finds Yeon-joo's dead body and faints. He wakes up tied by the man who killed his wife. The man tells Seo-jin that he was the one who called him from the "orphanage" and that killing his wife was unintentional. He tells Seo-jin that they have a religious cult where they worship "The Chosen Holy Child." They abduct girls and perform rituals on the child and their believers worship the child. The chosen child now is Ye-na. Seo-jin kills the man and comes home only to find police. The police and Seo-jin's friend believe that Seo-jin is behaving wildly because of his medication. They arrest him. Yoo-jin confesses to him that she had met his wife and made her join their cult.

Seo-jin flees from police as Yoo-jin tries to escape with Ye-na. They get into a tussle, culminating in Yoo-jin about to fall off a cliff. She pleads with Seo-jin not to let go but he leaves her to fall after remembering what happened on the day of his sister's abduction, telling her that even if she were his real sister, she could never be their family. The film ends with Seo-jin shredding the DNA analysis he requested without looking at the result.

Cast

edit

Main

edit

Supporting

edit
  • Ye Soo-jung as Yoon-hee[5]
  • Choi Sang-hoon as Seong-cheol
  • Park Min-ha as Jena
  • Heo Joon-seok as Detective Joo
  • Lee Hae-woon as Sang-goo
  • Choi Young-woo as Yeong-choon
  • Lee Je-yeon as Beom-seok
  • Jang Sung-yoon as Yeon-joo[6]
  • So Hee-jung as Jeong-im

Production

edit

Early working title of the series is Daughter.[7]

Mystery thriller film Intruder (screenwriter Son Won-pyeong, distributed by ACEMaker Movie Works, produced by BA Entertainment) confirmed the lead cast and started shooting on February 13, 2019.[8][9]

Release

edit

Intruder was originally set to be released on March 12, 2020[10] but was postponed because of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.[11] It was later scheduled to be released on May 21, 2020.[12] but was pushed back again to June 4, 2020 due to the Itaewon Club incident which COVID-19 spread throughout Itaewon again.[13]

International

edit

Following the release in South Korea on June 4, 2020 Intruder is confirmed to be released in 26 countries around the world including Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Russia and Malaysia.

In Malaysia, Intruder was released on July 23, 2020 and debut at #2 on GSC Cinemas and TGV cinemas' Top 10 Movies, losing only to Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula.[14]

Reception

edit

On June 5, the Korean Film Council officially announced that Intruder which premiered the day before, had drawn a total of 49,578 moviegoers to theaters on the first day of its release.

Although the number would be modest by normal standards, the figure marks the highest number of first-day moviegoers achieved by any film since the COVID-19 outbreak began disrupting daily life in South Korea. The last film to surpass 40,000 moviegoers at the Korean box office on its first day was Beasts Clawing at Straws released 107 days prior on February 19—and widely considered the last film to be released in Korea before the COVID-19 outbreak effectively shut down the movie theater industry.[15]

Intruder topped its first weekend box office with 238,417 admissions and constituted 63.3% of the total ticket sales.[16]

In Malaysia, Intruder placed at Top 2 Box Office Movies in GSC Cinemas on the weekend for two consecutive weeks after its screening on July 23, 2020.

References

edit
  1. ^ "'침입자' 손원평, 작가→감독으로 출사표 "부끄럽지 않은 작품으로 만나고 싶다"". 스포츠동아. February 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "'침입자' 송지효· 김무열 캐스팅 비하인드 스토리 공개출처". sedaily. February 12, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  3. ^ "코로나19 재확산에 영화 "침입자" 개봉 또 연기". radiokorea. May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  4. ^ "'침입자' 오는 6월 4일로 개봉 연기 감독 손원평은 손학규 전 의원의 차녀 베스트셀러 '아몬드'로 유명세". Hankyung. May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  5. ^ "'침입자' 예수정→서현우, 이름만으로 신뢰주는 조연 라인업". 뉴스엔. February 24, 2020.
  6. ^ "장성윤, 영화 '도터' 캐스팅… 김무열, 송지효와 호흡". 머니S. March 7, 2019.
  7. ^ "[빅픽처] 글발, 연출력으로 이어질까…작가 출신 감독의 '데뷔전'". SBS funE (in Korean). May 12, 2020.
  8. ^ "'도터' 김무열X송지효, 25년만에 만난 남매로 뭉쳤다[공식입장]". OSEN. February 19, 2019.
  9. ^ "Song Ji Hyo And Kim Moo Yeol Confirmed For New Mystery Thriller Film". Soompi. February 19, 2019.
  10. ^ "[공식]송지효X김무열 미스터리 스릴러 '침입자', 3월 12일 개봉 확정". 스포츠조선 (in Korean). February 11, 2020.
  11. ^ "[전문] 송지효X김무열 '침입자' 개봉일 연기·시사회 취소 "코로나19 사태 호전되길"". 스포츠조선 (in Korean). February 27, 2020.
  12. ^ "송지효X김무열 '침입자' 5월21일 개봉, 영화계 활기 되찾나". 뉴스엔 (in Korean). April 24, 2020.
  13. ^ "[단독] "두번째 개봉 변경, 막막해"…'침입자' 이태원클럽 사태에 또 다시 좌절(종합)". 스포츠조선 (in Korean). May 12, 2020.
  14. ^ "[공식] 오늘(4일) 개봉 '칩입자', 전세계 26개국 선판매..글로벌 흥행 정조준". 스포츠조선 (in Korean). June 4, 2020.
  15. ^ "Song Ji Hyo's New Film "Intruder" Records Highest Number Of 1st-Day Moviegoers Since COVID-19 Outbreak". Soompi. June 5, 2020.
  16. ^ "South Korea Box Office June 5-7, 2020". KOFIC. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
edit