#thecaller

Many great premises still have a lot to offer to storytellers who take them in unexpected directions. Communicating via phone (or letters) with someone in the past/future? We’ve seen it done in films like The Lake House but we haven’t seen it in a horror/thriller. The Call presents many unexpected turns and makes great use of its gimmick.

Kim Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) begins receiving mysterious phone calls. They come from the house’s previous inhabitant, Oh Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo), who lived there 20 years ago. Seo-yeon convinces her “roommate” to interfere in the past and save her father from a lethal household blaze. In return, a disaster in Young-sook's future is averted. As their lives are altered, the consequences of these changes come to light.

Numerous big twists come in the second half of the film and the less you know about them, the better. The synopsis I read while getting ready gave away too much for my taste so I’ve left key bits out of my synopsis. When the story begins, you have no idea what’s coming. Did a murder trigger this connection between timelines? Did the father's death? Once the unique method of communication is established, your mind swarms with possibilities and questions. Seo-yeon wants to save her father, now dead exactly 20 years. First, she’s got to convince Young-sook of what’s going on, then get her to interfere. You can’t shake the feeling the dates line up just a bit too well. There’s got to be something else going on, but what?

As the answers trickle in and the callers grasp the power this window into time grants them, things get intense. The two women can influence each other but cannot meet. Seo-yeon controls the information being fed to Young-sook and her actions influence the future. This dynamic always keeps you guessing and brings some sinister developments later on. Both women must evaluate their situation and come up with ways to use their unique position in ways that prove the filmmakers paid attention. The Call always follows its own rules but they're not spelled out through clunky exposition. You have to piece together what can and can't be done at the same speed as the characters. This makes their discoveries shocking, frightening, and unsettling. The conclusion is particularly skin-crawling. The Call “ends”, and then we get a few brief scenes during the end credits that show there are other layers to this nightmare you didn’t expect.

Based on the 2011 British/Puerto Rican supernatural film The Caller, this South Korean picture took me completely by surprise. With the title and the familiar-looking setup, you think you’re in for standard ghostly business but this is a complicated, innovative story. It leaves you excited to see more. I’m planning on checking out the original just to see if there are any other clever maneuvers this film left out or invented. (Original Korean with English subtitles, November 29, 2020)

I sought out The Caller because of how much I enjoyed its Vietnamese remake. Although the poster looks about as generic as you can get for a horror movie, the premise is ingenious. This is an inventive horror film that differs significantly from the film it inspired, meaning you can watch both and hardly feel like anything is repeated.

Mary Kee (Rachelle Lefevre) has moved into a new apartment to escape her abusive ex-husband (Ed Quinn). On her first day, she receives a strange phone call from Rose (Lorna Raver), whom she eventually realizes is living in the past. Though separated by decades, they form an unlikely friendship. When Rose becomes obsessed with Mary and threatens to alter her past if she doesn’t do as she says, Mary is held hostage by someone who may not even be alive today.

I love this concept because it makes the film different from other stalker horror stories. Mary is being stalked and tormented but there's no going to the police here. Even if Mary could track down Rose in the present, it’s not like that would do anything. Locking her up in a closet today doesn't change yesterday. Calling Rose to tell her the balance of power has changed and all she has to do is alter the future. How do you fight back against someone with that kind of power?

One glimmer of hope keeps the suspense burning even brighter than it would normally. Mary is against another human being and her future state must give her some advantages. Unfortunately, there's the matter of her ex-husband, who seems to have a gift for showing up at the worst time and poses yet another threat.

Ultimately, The Call is the better movie because of the ending. The Caller doesn’t fully utilize its premise during the conclusion, which is disappointing. It doesn't mean you need to pick only one, however. The two are so different you could be convinced the similarities are nothing more than coincidence. What this film does well certainly makes it worth seeing. The best scare comes in a scene in which Mary looks through the old photo album and notices some of the photos have suddenly changed. It’s such an unsettling visual but outside of the context, what are you seeing, really? It’s not like it’s a ghost or a demonic visage popping up, it’s simply a hint of an ordinary-looking person faraway. Seeing that one shot makes you paranoid for the whole movie. Whenever the camera goes outside, you’ll constantly look in the background, wondering if that one person in the distance is present-day Rose coming to finish the job she started years ago.

Although The Caller becomes conventional during its final act, you won’t mind too much. Its ideas are so good you just want to see what's next. This goes to show that with a proper spin, an idea we've seen before becomes wholly new. (December 1, 2020)