▲ This still photo of South Korean thriller film "Drive," starring actress Park Ju-hyun, is provided by production firm MerryChristmas on June 3, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- YouTuber Yuna (played by Park Ju-hyun) is an influencer with 800,000 subscribers. She gains popularity by sharing videos of her daily life, much like a 'mukbang' where she shows herself making and eating kimchi pancakes. 

 

As she becomes famous and starts earning significant amounts of money, she gets a management agency and even receives substantial transfer offers. Directed by Park Dong-hee, the movie "Drive" is a thriller that follows Yuna, who rises to stardom on social networking services (SNS) and then gets kidnapped by an unidentified person.

 

The film captivates the audience from the beginning by presenting the story in a fast-paced and concise manner. It effectively showcases Yuna’s rise to influence on SNS without digressing. The suspense builds as Yuna secretly negotiates a transfer deal with a broadcasting station director, Jin-soo (Jeong Woong-in), behind her partner Yoon-seok's (Kim Do-yoon) back, leading directly into the kidnapping incident.

 

Yuna, trapped in a car trunk and being taken to an unknown location, receives a bizarre proposition from her kidnapper. She must raise 650 million won through a YouTube live stream within an hour to be spared. The fact that the kidnapper allows Yuna to keep her phone and even encourages the live broadcast hints at a deeper, mysterious background to the crime. The film keeps this secret until the very end, drawing the audience into the narrative.

 

▲ This still photo of South Korean thriller film "Drive," starring actress Park Ju-hyun, is provided by production firm MerryChristmas on June 3, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

The film excels in maintaining a straightforward storyline while keeping the tension high throughout. There are many gripping scenes, comparable to those in action films. One notable scene is when the kidnapper, driving at high speed with Yuna in the trunk, suddenly brakes and then reverses, driving against traffic on a busy road.

 

However, there are some shortcomings. As the kidnapper makes his proposal, viewers naturally become interested in how Yuna will outsmart the situation during the live broadcast. This anticipation feels somewhat unmet, leaving an impression that the film pulls back just as it starts to delve deeper into the world of SNS.

 

Nevertheless, Yuna's live broadcast highlights the inhuman aspects of SNS. The viewers, engrossed in posting real-time comments, remain mere spectators even as Yuna’s life hangs in the balance. Some even seem to derive enjoyment from her visible suffering. Park Ju-hyun, in the role of Yuna, delivers a compelling performance, conveying her inner turmoil through subtle facial expressions despite the confined space of the trunk. The camera captures these nuances through close-ups.

 

"Drive" marks Director Park’s debut. He previously wrote the screenplay for the crime action film "Special Delivery" (2022). Remarkably for a debut, "Drive" was invited to compete at the 41st Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and was chosen as the closing film for the 22nd Dallas Asian Film Festival, garnering international recognition.

 

The film is set to release on the 12th. Runtime: 90 minutes. Rated 15+.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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