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Running time: 113 minutes
Directed by: Sung-ho Kim
Starring: Yoo Ji-tae
IMDB rating: 6.5
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372937/
Into The Mirror aka Geoul sokeuro
Into The Mirror begins with a young woman in a shopping centre late at night. The centre is due for its grand opening later that week, and she is one of the admin staff working late. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, she drops her ID badge. She bends down to pick it up, but her reflection doesn't. As she stands back up, her reflection starts to cut its own throat, and the real-life woman drops to the floor and bleeds to death.
It's a stylish, effective opening and gets you interested in what is to follow.
The central character is Yeong-min, the shopping centre's head security guard, a job he was given by his uncle (who owns the place) after leaving the police force due to having caused his partner's death in a hostage situation by shooting a reflection in a mirror rather than the criminal. As you can tell, they really push the 'mirror' angle of the story in this film.
The details of what exactly is happening with the mirror-related deaths is explained, but doesn't quite make sense. It's not so much that this is a film with plot holes, more of a case that the basic concept doesn't quite add-up, and you are left with several unanswered questions about how exactly the whole thing works.
I liked this film though. It was entertaining, had a few cool scenes, and while the key plot device was a bit flawed, the plot itself was easy to understand. It was also good to see Yoo Ji-Tae in another role, as he was very good in Oldboy. He's not quite as impressive in this, but does a decent enough job.
6.5/10
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