[Slate] Just Dropped a Thriller...

Emphasizes Realistic Horror but Lacks Logical Necessity
Complacent Smartphone Hacking Response, Unclear Criminal Motive
Fails to Connect Victim's Complex Emotions into One

※ This article contains many potential spoilers for the movie.

The Netflix film Smartphone Only Dropped is a thriller dealing with smartphone-related crimes. It draws ordinary citizens into crime and disrupts their daily lives. Director Kim Tae-jun boldly abandons the mystery setup. The fact that the culprit is Woo Jun-young (Im Si-wan) is revealed early on, and the process of him getting close to the victim Lee Na-mi (Chun Woo-hee) is depicted. The approach is persistent and repetitive. Using stalking disguised as coincidence, it emphasizes realistic fear and anger.

For the tension typical of thrillers to arise, logical inevitability and justification must be supported. The foundation of Smartphone Only Dropped is not very solid. Woo Jun-young encounters Lee Na-mi four times before attempting murder. The second and third meetings have little significance. Since he has already gathered much information from the smartphone, these do not appear as sinister investigations. Rather, emotional exchanges stand out, hindering the creation of excitement or anxiety. Artificiality also appears in the latter. At the next meeting, he hands over a manipulated business card as if he already knew he would sow discord between Lee Na-mi and her close friend Jung Eun-joo (Kim Ye-won). That night, Jung Eun-joo unexpectedly visits Lee Na-mi’s house and stays overnight.

The unnatural story has no particular distinctive points. It fails to differentiate itself in two major elements: Lee Na-mi’s naive response to smartphone hacking and Woo Jun-young’s vague motives.

Naive and Clumsy Victim

Early on, Lee Na-mi is portrayed as a typical modern person who cannot live without a smartphone. This evokes empathy and aims to convey realistic fear. However, after losing her smartphone, Lee Na-mi’s response is extremely passive and timid. She does not suspect anything even when the screen of the lost smartphone is cracked and repaired free of charge. Even after receiving a detailed explanation from Woo Jun-young days later, she does not doubt that day.

"Did the battery drain faster than usual?" "Yes, it drained very quickly." "This means spyware was installed." "What exactly is that? (...) But I haven’t installed anything recently, so how did it get installed?"

Lee Na-mi is also dull-witted. She fails to notice the flaws in Woo Jun-young’s lies intended to drive a wedge between her and Jung Eun-joo. "As you said, Na-mi, there’s no trace of downloading (the spyware). This means someone secretly installed it directly on your phone. Also, this file’s purpose is location tracking and eavesdropping, so remote control is not possible." "What do you mean...?" Lee Na-mi only repeats that remote control is impossible. She does not consider whether Jung Eun-joo would have needed to install spyware even if she had caused trouble.

Criminal Lacking Presence

At first glance, Woo Jun-young appears cunning and meticulous. He has killed many people without leaving a trace. However, the process of luring Lee Na-mi is so bold it borders on blatant. He recklessly exposes his face without concern for CCTV and other surveillance. The meeting place with Lee Na-mi is always the same caf?, and Jung Eun-joo joins on the fourth meeting. If he adds more murders as intended, he will inevitably become a suspect soon.

If one commits crimes while risking danger, there must be sufficient justification. Woo Jun-young shows no clear motive. He is indifferent to money or sexual pleasure. He has no intention of exploiting other crimes. He is simply a psychopath with antisocial personality traits. He is busy enjoying the pain inflicted on others. Director Kim Tae-jun does not enumerate reasons for this repeated behavior. It is depicted as if it is enough for viewers to infer he is a psychopath. There is no way a conveniently created character would have the presence of Ji Young-min (Ha Jung-woo) from The Chaser (2008).

Woo Jun-young’s attempt at murder is also bland. Lee Na-mi passively complies with his demands, so he remains calm throughout. This is why the climax fails to generate tension comparable to the damage caused by smartphone hacking. The series of events does not lead to insight about smartphone crimes. It merely repeats clich?d expressions and flows seen in other thriller films. The belated assertion of Lee Na-mi’s regained agency gains no momentum. The development is unnatural from the moment her father Lee Seung-woo (Park Ho-san) is taken hostage and she is suppressed.

Fragmented Complex Emotions

The bathroom scene at the father’s house. Lee Na-mi tries to attack Woo Jun-young with a long, sharp tool like a spear. But seeing her father tied up in the bathtub filled with water and Woo Jun-young holding a knife to his neck, she hesitates to stab. She soon puts down the tool and tapes her own ankles. She rages and curses when Woo Jun-young turns on the faucet, putting her father at risk of drowning. "Hey, you bastard. I’m going to kill you, you bastard." When Woo Jun-young turns off the faucet and lifts her father’s head, her screams turn into pleas. "I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I’ll do whatever you say, please let dad go."

Chun Woo-hee shows all the emotions of frustration, resentment, sadness, and displeasure. However, these emotions are not connected as one. Director Kim cuts the scenes into small pieces and edits them. Close-up shots of the father are interspersed with close-up, waist, and bust shots of Woo Jun-young, breaking the flow. Instead of complex feelings, it appears as a collection of individual reactions.

This contrasts with Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) in Oldboy (2003), who oscillates between forgiveness and threats in front of Lee Woo-jin (Yoo Ji-tae) while trying to reveal a secret to Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung). Director Park Chan-wook effectively conveys the final moments of a man pushed to the edge by focusing solely on Choi Min-sik’s acting with handheld shots. "You! From the tips of your hair to your toenails, no one in this world will ever find your corpse. Why? Because I will chew you up. Woo-jin. Lee Woo-jin! I was wrong. I take back what I said. Please, take it back, I beg you."

The direction of Oldboy cannot be declared the only correct answer. Sometimes the direction pursued by Smartphone Only Dropped might be effective. But no matter the method, it is impossible to cover up a monotonous narrative and illogicality. Even if the subject is the smartphone, familiar to everyone.