Korean Title: 내일의 기억
English Title: Recalled (Lit. Translation: Memories of Tomorrow)
Running Time: 1 hour, 39 minutes
Release Date: April 24, 2021
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Language(s): Korean

Cast: Seo Ye Ji (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay), Kim Kang Woo (New Year Blues)
Directed by: Seo Yu Min
Written by: Kim Ryu Hyun & Seo Yu Min

Recalled is a thriller-mystery film about Soo Jin (Seo Ye Ji) who experiences visions of future tragic events as a result of a brain injury she sustained from an accident.

The film runs just beneath two hours and was released on April 24, 2021. Recalled ranked #1 in the Korean box office during its first week of release and is among the 10 best-performing films of 2021 despite the COVID-19 South Korean film drought and controversies surrounding lead actress, Seo Ye Ji’s personal life.

Story

Soo Jin (Seo Ye Ji) wakes up at the hospital and doesn’t remember anything as a result of a brain injury from an accident. Her doting husband, Ji Hoon (Kim Kang Woo) has been caring for her since her accident and takes her home to continue nursing her to recovery. Prior to their accident, Ji Hoon shares with Soo Jin the plans they had to immigrate to Canada to start a new life there and assures her that the accident will not hinder those plans from materializing.

Soo Jin struggles to acclimatize herself to the unfamiliarity brought upon by losing her memories. She does not remember anything about herself besides her name, she’s forgotten what her talents, hobbies and fears are. Because of this, Soo Jin relies on Ji Hoon to explain the reason and significance behind every emotion she feels brought upon by any given event or scenario.

As more days pass, Soo Jin begins to experience visions of tragic events that are about to happen to tenants she encounters in their apartment building. In hopes of saving the individuals linked to her visions, Soo Jin develops an obsession with following said people to warn them and to stop her visions from happening.

The Verdict

Overall Rating: 10/10

Recalled is very reminiscent of previously released Korean thrillers, The Call (2020) and Forgotten (2017). If you want a Hollywood counterpart, this film gave me The Eye (2008) vibes — but more snatched.

Typically, viewers would need to expend a little bit of calories to follow the story progression for thriller-mysteries — mostly because the enjoyment for the genre comes from critically thinking about why things are the way they are. Thriller-mysteries usually incorporate a multitude of complex details to take viewers in circles and confuse them with crazy twists and turns. However, in the attempt of creating that roller-coaster ride, certain plots end up veering too far off course that they end up gone with the wind… I’m sure all of us can think of at least one film that concluded with plot holes galore or bizarre endings as a result of the writer getting carried away with details. Having said that, if watching a film is going to make me feel like I’m solving a 5,000-piece puzzle, the finished product better be meaningful and worth the time spent.

And so I say, with Recalled: Less is more - that’s the stark difference between this film and others of the same genre that came before it. I was pleasantly surprised with the way Recalled was able to keep me at the edge of my seat without my brain ever having to go on warp-mode to understand what was going on at any point in time. I was under the impression this film was going to have an overly complicated plot with many details I’ll have to pay close attention to. But that wasn’t the case at all. The plot ended up being so uncomplicated, crisp and clean. It doesn’t give room for much interpretation — and that’s an interesting flavour to have for a thriller-mystery film.