Sorum is the story of a young man, around 30, who moves into a disheveled apartment building that is about to be torn down. Presumably, he has gotten an extremely good deal on rent, because this place is the pits. Of his few neighbors, one is an author writing a ghost story, one is a woman his age who is beaten daily by her husband, and the rest of the tenants are never further examined. Soon after moving in, the man develops a relationship with his abused-wife neighbor, and from there, things get funky. She is a chain-smoking, ultra-depressed, confusing woman, who seems to have sporadic temper tantrums and generally keeps you off balance. Whether or not this was intentional on the part of the filmmakers is beyond us, but the end result is that we have no way to connect to her character and spend most of the film just wishing she weren't there. The man is mopey and confusing as well, but his little Bruce Lee impressions (which he does only a few times throughout the film) were really hilarious--truly the high point of the film for us.

The thing about this movie is, the filmmakers seem to have relied on a formula whereby they spend the first 99% of the movie establishing atmosphere and hinting at some incidents that happened in the past in the building, and then they leave the last 1% for the super-shocking-extravaganza-ending, which isn't super, shocking, or extravagant. The end result is a feeling that you spent 90 minutes reluctantly giving this film the benefit of the doubt, hoping it would reward your patience at the end, but it just gives you the finger. Well, it doesn't give you the finger, but the ending is just too predictable and poorly done to be satisfying.

In our opinion, this film was beautifully shot, and if you're willing to go into the experience ready to settle for just 90 minutes of cool-looking stuff and some amusing little bits here and there, you could very well be happy with this film. Or, if you're someone who isn't too quick and is easily shocked or impressed by a complete lack of extravaganzas, then maybe it won't feel like a letdown to you. Obviously, this film was very very popular, so we are likely in the minority with our opinions; but as it stands, this film did not feel like much more than a series of beautiful photographs for us.

Before you read this review, check out the plot above. Doesn't that sound interesting? I thought it did. Judging from the DVD art work, the simple plot and numerous tidbits I've read on the internet (this film has been raved by many) - it seemed to have the makings of something I had to get my hands on, that's just what I did and now, I'm sorry I took my chances on it. The moment the end-credits started rolling, I pressed stop on the DVD player, ejected the disc and I seriously wanted to toss the thing in the garbage can. What stopped me from doing so was the ultra-cool package design and a sudden thought I had: Why should I throw away something that has the potential to be re-sold to another future victim who has also heard so many good things about it like I have? Ebay, here I come.

The truth is, people out there like this movie and I have no idea why. All I gotta say is pass the joint, cuz you guys obviously puffed way too much.

First of all, the official plot is misleading. There's more to this film than some guy moving into an apartment that was a scene of a mysterious crime. Basically, it goes a little something like this:
Chang Jin Young (who could easily pass as Leon Lai's twin brother) is a taxi driver who likes to eat candybars and imitate Bruce Lee. He decides to move into an old, run-downed apartment complex that even roaches would be afraid to dwell in. On his first day there, he meets some neighbors, two main ones to be exact: a man and a woman. The man, played by Jeong Jin Yeong, is a washed out novelist who used to run a publishing firm , but now loathes in this crappy apartment complex for whatever reason. The woman, played by Kim Myung Min, appears to be all screwed up, but there's something about her that attracts Chang Jin Young and it's definitely not her hair because it looks like...well...it looks like shit. The two instantly become friends.

Anyways, Kim Myung Min tells Chang Jin Young that there was a man that was burned to death in apartment #504 - the room he's currently living in. Chang Jin Young's reaction: "No wonder the ceiling looked like charcoal". As you can see, Chang Jin Young is a bright young man.

Kim Myung Min has some serious issues. It's revealed that she had lost her baby somewhere along the line. Now, she lives with her alcoholic husband where she lets him do fun things to her like beat her up and take her hard-earned money so he can gamble with it. One day, he beats her a little too much and Kim Myung Min decides to kill him. After doing so, she runs to Chang Jin Young, the only person she can turn to. In a scene straight out of "Goodfellas", Kim Myung Min and Chang Jin Young bury his body somewhere in the woods. Yes, Chang Jin Young likes her so much that, not only does he keep this a solid secret, but he also digs the hole on the ground as well.

After this delightful event, Chang Jin Young and Kim Myung Min grow closer together. They begin to have lots of sex and soon, move in with each other. This is where the movie goes downhill at hundreds of miles per hour. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't get it, but let me just run by some of the crap that goes down without giving away too many details. Warning, the following paragraph was chewed in and spat out:

Chang Jin Young ends up being connected to the guy that was killed in his room. Kim Myung Min ends up being connected to this incident as well. Jeong Jin Yeong (the ex-publisher guy) happens to be working on a novel that is connected to Chang Jin Young, Kim Myung Min and her female friend who also had a husband that was killed in that same apartment - and get this, this husband appears in ghost form to warn his widow that "some events will happen in this apartment tonight" or something like that. And this is out of nowhere. So basically, we have two guys that died in that apartment complex and a burned baby who survives the fire and grows up to be Chang Jin Young, which he discovers at the end of the movie.

If you didn't understand that last paragraph, don't worry. I wrote the damn thing and I don't think I understand it myself.

"Sorum" is a terrible movie that gets worse and weirder as time goes on. Like I said, I don't get it. And if it takes one or two more viewings to get the full explanation then count me out because there's no way in hell I'm gonna sit through this shit again.

Any good things about "Sorum"? Well, I did give it a 2/10 rating so those 2 points came from somewhere. I thought the cinematography was excellent, but wasted. The apartment building was definitely a site to look at, but wasted (imagine the house in "Psycho" in a bad film. Oh wait, I forgot about the sequels). Chang Jin Young and Kim Myung Min are obviously talented actors/actresses, but wasted. The package design for the DVD was neat, but wasted.

I'm gonna end this review by admitting that I laughed out loud more than once at Chang Jin Young's imitation of Bruce Lee. It's actually hilarious but misplaced in this film. In other words, WASTED!