Movie Review: 'The Day I Died: Unclosed Case' (2020)
This film is included in the list of winners for the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards
Korean Title: 내가 죽던 날
English Title: The Day I Died: Unclosed Case
Running Time: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Release Date: November 12, 2020
Genre: Drama
Language(s): Korean
Cast: Kim Hye Soo, (Hyena), Lee Jung Eun (Parasite), No Jung Ui (18 Again)
Directed by: Park Ji Wan
Written by: Park Ji Wan
The Day I Died: Unclosed Case is a drama film about Detective Kim Hyun Soo (Kim Hye Soo) who gets assigned to close a suicide case involving Jung Se Jin (No Jung Ui) while under disciplinary action. The police force promises Hyun Soo that she will get reinstated as a Detective if she quickly wraps up Se Jin’s case despite never having found her body.
This film was released in Korea in November 2020, was nominated and won the award for Best Film Screenplay at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards in May 2021.
The Story
The news reports that an intense typhoon is about to hit the whole country and Jung Se Jin (No Jung Ui) uses this opportunity to take her own life at a cliff near her village. She leaves nothing else behind but her shoes and a suicide note outlining her desire to disappear from the world.
Meanwhile, Kim Hyun Soo (Kim Hye Soo) is returning to work as a Detective after being suspended for a period of time. As she meets with the Chief Inspector, Hyun Soo learns that her reinstatement is still under deliberation with the disciplinary committee. Hyun Soo’s boss promises her that she will put in a good word for her so that she can get reinstated into the force as long as she is able to quickly wrap up the outstanding suicide case involving Jung Se Jin.
As such, Hyun Soo sets out to the small provincial island where Se Jin lived and investigates to retrace her last days leading up to her suicide. Hyun Soo asks the villagers questions and learns that Se Jin did not interact with others and spent most of her time in solitude. At the same time, Hyun Soo sifts through Se Jin’s belongings and through the items, she learns that Se Jin had to endure a lot of grief as a result of her family members.
During her investigation, Hyun Soo meets Sooncheon Daek (Lee Jung Eun), one of the village people with a speech impediment and learns about the relationship she had with Se Jin prior to her death. While investigating, Hyun Soo identifies with the struggles Se Jin went through while she was alive and with interacting with Sooncheon Daek, she slowly uncovers the real truth behind Se Jin’s disappearance.
The Verdict
Overall Rating: 3/10
At the end of this film, there is a heartwarming twist that happens quite abruptly. I feel like many films fall trap to cliché type endings, especially for ones that start rather gloomy and depressing as this one (or the other way around, funny in the beginning - sad turn in the end). I’m not sure if it’s a means of giving the viewers consolation with the way the characters end up after all the grief they endured during the story, but the ending for this took such a hard pivot from the rest of the film that it felt incredibly out of place and unjustifiable.
To the tea: The Day I Died: Unclosed Case is a drama film through and through. It was quiet and it was gloomy - both are totally warranted given its overall premise. The vibe for this movie is very similar to that of its co-Baeksang Arts Awards Nominees, Moving On and Voice of Silence and has a really great power-house of actors in it. But even with that, I don’t think it lives up against the two films previously mentioned. On top of the fact that its conclusion offers very little pay-off for the viewer, the overall story progression was just way too slow and made it really challenging to see through to the end.
