The Uninvited – 4 Inyong shiktak (2003)

Direction: Soo-youn Lee | 123 minutes | drama, horror, thriller | Actors: Shin-yang Park, Ji-hyun Jun, Seon Yu, Ok Yeong, Ju-shil Lee, Yeo-jin Kim

A word of warning: this is not a film for the faint of heart, or for mothers with small children. There are some pretty disturbing and shocking scenes in this movie, all of which involve children. Moreover, the undertone is constantly gloomy and pessimistic. This does not alter the fact that the story is extremely intriguing.

‘The Uninvited’ is the directorial debut of Korean Soo-youn Lee. The original Korean title is ‘4 Inyong shiktak’, or ‘4 Doll Table’, referring to the four-seat kitchen table where Jeong-won sees the dead girls sitting in the film. The sight of this table with the two girls gives me goosebumps every time, although ‘The Uninvited’ is not an outspoken horror film. The atmosphere of the film is captivating from start to finish.

Anyone who thinks that the storyline of the two poisoned toddlers is the saddest element in this film is wrong. It all gets sadder and more horrifying when Jeong-won dives into his own past. The denouement is pitiful: the viewer tends to want to shout at Jeong-won that he was only a child, and could not have foreseen the consequences of his actions.

Yeon carries her own personal drama, similar to that of Jeong-won. Only in this case she was not a perpetrator, but a victim. Like Jeong-won, she is tormented by demons from the past, except that she knows exactly where her grief comes from. Jeong-won and Yeon attract and repel each other at the same time. Their loneliness seems to diminish in each other’s presence, sometimes only to increase. The acting of Shin-yang Park (Jeong-won) and Ji-hyun Jun (Yeon) is subtle, but effectively displays the nuances in the mutual relationship between the main characters.

‘The Uninvited’ is a film that leaves you in awe of what people do to each other and to themselves through ignorance and despair. Definitely not a ‘feel good movie’!