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Room No. 7: Secrets Unfold

Starring Shin Ha-kyun and Do Kyung-soo, “Room No. 7”, a South Korean comedy thriller brought a multitude of different reactions when it opened in theaters on July 13. The casting of Do Kyung-soo, also known as D.O. from EXO, initially attracted moviegoers before the release of the movie, but the main plot also allowed the movie to take first place in theaters during its opening weekend. When a corpse is found in a DVD room by a part time employee at a local DVD store, he and the owner of the store, must try to sell the store discreetly before their secret is revealed.

“I really enjoy watching Korean movies,” said Andrew Park (11), a Korean movie fanatic. “There are several Korean movies in which con artists try to perform an illegal act without getting caught.  However, this movie was not the typical bad guy doing illegal things; this movie was about two guys trying to hide a body they found in the DVD store, a plot new to Koreans. I have high expectations for this movie after watching the trailer and will most likely go watch it during the weekends.”

Although singers acting in movies and dramas are normal in Korea, viewers often critique their poor acting skills. What the audience thought would contain bad acting, instead contained a superb performance from D.O. His acting created a surreal atmosphere as he used great body motions and facial expressions to convey what they would feel in reality. Not only did D.O.’s acting stand out from the movie, but Shin Ha-kyun’s acting also created a frenzy amongst the audience. Due to the movie, viewers wished for Shin Ha-kyun to make more appearances in movies according to Daum. Overall, some of the audience members viewed the movie as a good thriller.

“The movie definitely contained comedic and surprising elements that made it a comedy-thriller,” said Jaeho Hwang (10). “Overall, I thought the movie was amazing. Each scene ended in a cliffhanger, so it made me really tense throughout the entire movie. I think I would watch this movie again if I could.”

Despite the positive reviews that surfaced, others had comparatively negative responses.  According to Naver, though the acting was outstanding, viewers believed that the movie itself didn’t have enough thriller and comedic components for it to be a comedy-thriller movie.

“In my opinion, the movie was unoriginal,” said Dennis Choye (9), a fan of comedy movies. “I love watching comedy movies because I love a good laugh. However, this movie did not really make me laugh. It was just very static from the beginning to the end. I think it was mainly because I had high expectations for this movie which made it less impactful.”

Overall, Room No. 7 gave a frenzy of mixed feelings. On one hand, critics and viewers believed the movie had great acting and a well thought out plotline. On the other hand, others thought the movie contained no suspense or comedy despite its proclaimed genre. The comedy-thriller movie received an overall rating of 6.25/10 from critics and 7.25/10 rating from viewers.

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