“…But it was only 4:30. That doctor wasn’t going to leave our house until 6pm.”
Having worked all his life as a teacher, Jung-in (Oh Dal-soo) decides to take a break from his job and move to the countryside with his wife Hyun-sook (Jang Young-nam). They notice another house nearby and leave a note inviting the occupant to come and visit. As they settle into their new home, a man named Yook-nam (Kim Hong-pa) shows up at their door on the very first day. They soon realize that the man shows up at 4 p.m. sharp every day, and invariably leaves at 6 p.m. sharp. Each two-hour visit brings its share of anxious, embarrassing and unsettling moments, driving the couple completely mad. They try to get rid of the intruder as he becomes increasingly unbearable to be around. What starts out as an ordinary neighborhood encounter turns into a nightmare for the couple.
Based on the book Les Catilinaires by Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb, 4PM is a captivating psychological thriller, imbued with constant tension and a few laugh-out-loud moments.
Black humor and suspense
4PM is typical of Korean cinema in that it mixes genres, while we find ourselves in the middle of a psychological thriller in which moments of laughter creep in. It’s a good way to play with the viewer’s heart rate, while at the same time making them forget, at times, that something really strange is going on.
Hyun-sook (Jang Young-nam) et Jung-in (Oh Dal-soo)
In fact, the laughter comes mainly at moments of unease. The couple find themselves welcoming this older man, who is a retired doctor (and therefore socially respectable), into their home, without really wanting him to be there. What’s more, this mysterious man enters, sits down and barely speaks, content to answer 95% of their questions with yes or no, without another word. The couple would like to invite him to leave, but that’s not done in Korea. We’d have a hard enough time doing that here in Quebec…
So, especially during the first few visits, we laugh when Jung-in tries to make conversation. Then as we watch the needles of the clock move very, very slowly. But why does this old man show up every day and say little or nothing? That’s the question that torments the protagonists and the viewer for the first one hundred minutes.
A lot with a little
Apart from the first few minutes, the entire movie takes place in a single location: the large plot of land where the two houses stand. And apart from a few scenes in Yook-nam’s house and 2 scenes in the woods behind the houses, everything takes place in the couple’s home.
It can certainly be said that 4 PM is further proof that to make a good film, you don’t need special effects, lots of locations or characters or breathtaking action. All you need is a solid screenplay, good dialogue and good acting. And that’s exactly what we find here.
The three main actors deliver a fine performance, in which non-verbals speak louder than words. After all, we’re talking about a feature film that’s all about discomfort in the presence of a stranger. We can’t talk, can we? The staging is just as effective. The shots are 99% simple, with a few shots to break the normalcy here and there.
A little more…
It’s a shame this kind of film doesn’t hit our screens more often. Korean cinema can appeal to the average filmgoer as much as to the more expert. This film is a fine example of this.
Apart from a few long takes here and there, this is a well-crafted film, with a score worthy of the great Hitchcock films. But you’ll only get one chance to see this film for now…
4 PM is presented at the Fantasia Festival, July 18, 2024.
