Unlocked

This South Korean thriller starring a female lead crafts a disquieting tale with shades of Parasite and a cautionary social message about our collective smartphone addiction. Where that earlier, award-winning film saw class resentment devolve into violence, the social ills in Unlocked revolve around the isolation that stems from our overreliance on technology. Staring at a phone all day isn't just an annoying habit or a hindrance in human relationships in this film, it's also the means by which a psychopathic hacker invades his victims' lives.

The cinematography underscores that message through inventive shots, like the urban masses all staring at their phones, or a repeated overhead shot of people walking on a gridded walkway looking like automated pieces on a screen. Uncomfortable or intrusive camera angles, including ostensibly from inside a phone, also help build the film's suspense. As Na-mi, Chun has to shoulder that suspense, and although her character outwits all the men in the movie, we aren't given a lot of detail about what makes her tick. Other less-than-masterful touches in this slightly-too-long movie include an unnecessary use of slow motion in key moments of action and an at-times confusing alternating back and forth between Na-mi's story and the police uncovering the perpetrator's trail of crimes.