THE CLOSET (2020)
At a glance, THE CLOSET seems more like typical genre fare. A widowed man and his young daughter try to rebuild their life after his wife’s tragic death. He’s discovering that the lack of time he spent with his kid is making this transition even more difficult, as he is now a single parent. Because this is a horror movie, they move into a new home with a history, and strange things begin to happen. We even get the creepy kid imagery and the parent refusing to believe their child about the unexplainable events. However, filmmaker Kwang-bin Kim doesn’t simply tread the same boards as most American movies in this subgenre. The script is infused with culture and reminds us why South Korean horror films are unmatched.
THE CLOSET had the misfortune of being one of the 2020 movies that we all missed for pandemic reasons. So, I was late to this amazing film that manages to remind us that these familiar narratives can still be engaging if we decenter Christianity and white folks. The movie opens with a VHS recording of a woman performing an exorcism on a closet that goes horribly wrong. We are already shaking things up because most American exorcism films still default to the patriarchy. Meaning priests are typically on their way to throw holy water on some girl who levitated and said a bad word. Even without the VHS aesthetic, this would have been enough to make me lean forward.
THE CLOSET eventually does wind up with two very attractive men trying to rescue Yi-na (Heo Yool). She disappeared in her new home, and her worried dad, Sang-won (Ha Jung-woo), has begrudgingly accepted some unorthodox help to find her. Kyung-hoon (Kim Nam-gil) has been tracking missing children for years as he has a connection to Sang-won’s house. Kyung-hoon is the son of the exorcist we saw get killed in the opening. This plot point is obvious, but that does not make it less impactful. This allows the film to have two parallel stories about the aftermath of a mother dying and leaving behind a young child. The budding friendship between the two male leads gives Sang-won even more of a reason to find his daughter and work harder at the parenting thing.
While the film has some creepy and cool scenes, it’s very much an emotional roller coaster. Unlike films like the later CONJURING installments, THE CLOSET doesn’t haphazardly tell us love and prayer conquers all and rolls credits. It drives home the point it wants to make about parenting by uncovering a third story. I won’t ruin the how and why of the entity, but more ghost kids help keep the creepy tension. This helps the film stick the landing as it transitions from deceased moms and neglectful dads to its thesis. While the spirit’s wrath is severely displaced, it’s very justified.
One of the reasons I love Korean horror is that the filmmakers get to paint with all of the subgenres freely. They’re not as boxed in as filmmakers in the States who have fans that get confused if they add a couple of music numbers (SINNERS) or lean into the sci-fi a little more (ALIEN). The movies also have a level of quality and care that I have come to expect. While not all of the SFX land in THE CLOSET, it is not worse than some horror TV shows that have come after it. If anything, it kind of lends itself to a SILENT HILL (2006) aesthetic that I dig.
THE CLOSET should definitely be on your watch list. Especially if you can find the original version and not the dubbed one circulating on some streamers. It wears its heart on its sleeve as it unsettles you. It also expertly takes each turn as it navigates the beats we expect to see from this style of film, and reminds us it is time to stop making these narratives the way they have always been done.
Most importantly, though, the film is a meditation on parenthood and the lasting repercussions adults can have on kids. Whether parents are abusive, distant, or simply have the misfortune of dying during a crucial age of a child's life, this stays with them. What gets said to them and how they are treated, color a child’s POV. Those seemingly small moments inform how they interact with the world and who they grow up to become. That should all go without saying, but I'm glad this movie said it with style for the people in the back. So, watch this movie and be nice to the youth before they turn on you.
