The Voice of Silence is a 2020 Korean indie crime drama film. Written and Directed by Hong Eui-Jeong (Habitat, Better Than Tomorrow). The movie stars Yoo Ah-In (Hellbound, Burning), Yoo Jae-Myung (Itaewon Class, The Sound of Magic), and Moon Seung-Ah (Scattered Nights, The Hill of Secrets).
**MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD**
Tae-In is a man that cannot speak. He works with his partner Park Chang-bok. The duo are a clean-up crew for gangsters. They do their jobs professionally and with due dilligence.
One day, Chang-bok gets approached by the manager and gets asked to pick up a special package and keep it for a day or so.
Chang-bok agrees. The next day Tae-in and Chang-bok arrive at the spot the manager sends them. The two find out they are supposed to take care of a little girl in what turns out to be a ransom situation.
Meanwhile, there has been a change in management in the gangster heirarchy, and their former manager (the one that did the kidnapping in the first place) is now dead. Chang-bok and Tae-In once again find themselves stuck with Cho-Hee. Chang-bok decides he must find a way to get the ransom money in order to return her home.
That’s when TROUBLE sets in for the two. Chang-bok asks Tae-in to take care of the little girl until they can get the ransom money. Tae-in does not want to do it but recuctantly agrees.
After a few days, Tae-In desperately tries to reach Chang-bok but cannot find him. He tries to take Cho-Hee back to where he first picked her up. Seeing what they have planned for her, and feeling conflicted about his decision, Tae-In is hellbent on rescuing Cho-Hee the next day.
Not wanting to give anything else away, Yoo Ah-In does a fantastic job using veritable grunts and pained facial cues to communicate his anger and frustrations as the non-verbal Tae-In in the movie. Both Tae-In and Park Chang-Bok find themselves drowning in a world they know nothing about and are desperately trying to keep their heads above water. Tae-in, even though he doesn’t always make the right choices, is one of the only moral voices in the film. He tries his best to care and do what is right for Cho-Hee. Hong Eui-Jeong in her directorial debut, focuses the movie on the characters and pulling the emotional stings that show how not all people are bad, just sometimes get caught in a bad situation.
This slow-burn drama is a must watch.
Rating: 9/10
Voice of Silence now streaming on: Rakuten Viki, Amazon Prime Video
Watch The Trailer Here:
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