84 m² (2025)

Quand le plafond est plus bruyant que le scénario...

J’ai terminé ce film avec la tête en vrac… mais pas dans le bon sens 😵‍💫 Je m’attendais à un thriller psychologique prenant, avec une tension qui monte, un vrai payoff à la fin… mais franchement... je suis restée sur ma faim 😬. Genre… j’ai pas vraiment compris ce qu’on voulait me dire, et encore moins ce que je devais ressentir 🤷🏼‍♀️

La vibe était là au début, avec cette angoisse sourde, les bruits étranges des murs, plafond, les voisins chelous, tout était posé pour m’embarquer... mais plus les minutes passaient, plus j’avais l’impression de tourner en rond dans cet appart de 84m² sans issue ni vraie montée dramatique. C’est lent, c’est flou, et surtout… ça mène où ?!? 😐

Kang Ha Neul est bon, il y a rien à dire sur le jeu d’acteur, mais même lui, avec son regard perdu et son air au bord du burn-out, il peut pas sauver un scénario qui reste trop abstrait... 😔 J’aurais aimé qu’on pousse plus loin la descente mentale de son perso, ou qu’on tranche : "est-ce qu’il perd la tête ou est-ce que tout le monde lui cache quelque chose ?" Là, on reste dans le flou, et pas du genre “mystérieux”... mais plutôt “confus” 😵‍❓

Yeom Hye Ran, j’en attendais énormément, surtout après ses rôles de dingo dans d’autres projets… et là ?!? Elle est bien… mais sous-exploitée 😔. Son personnage est inquiétant, mais on n’en pas vraiment plus avant la fin...c'est survolé. Idem pour l’ambiance sonore, c’est maîtrisé, mais ça ne suffit pas à créer une vraie tension quand l’histoire derrière ne suit pas 😬

Et cette fin... Je suis restée devant mon écran en mode "OK... et donc ?" 😶 Je comprends qu’ils aient voulu faire quelque chose de métaphorique sur une critique sociale, mais c’est trop subtil, trop éparpillé à mon goût. J’ai pas senti de message clair, pas de claque non plus, juste de la déception... C’est dommage, parce que le spitch était hyper prometteur... Bref, je pensais plonger dans un cauchemar psychologique à la "Strangers from Hell"… mais j’ai juste glissé dans l’ennui 🥱✌🏻

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Brilliant Performance, Broken Film

A suffocating and devastating spiral held up by brilliant performances, but crumbling under its own messy plotting.

OVERVIEW:

No U Sung finally buys his dream apartment in Seoul, pouring every last won and possession into an 84-square-meter unit he can barely afford. Three years later, that dream has rotted. His investment has crashed, his once-pristine home is filthy and dim: no lights, no AC, just mounting debt and relentless banging on the walls. Neighbors accuse him of making the noise himself, but no one knows where it’s coming from, and the tension soon drives him toward paranoia and madness. Desperation pushes him into reckless choices, including a nerve-shredding crypto scheme, and the story spirals into something darker and far more brutal.


ANALYSIS:

Kang Ha-neul is mesmerizing as U Sung. His slow unraveling feels painfully authentic, balancing fragile panic with awkward humor that makes him oddly endearing even at his worst. Yeom Hye-ran steals every scene as the building’s residents’ representative, her polite veneer barely masking classist disdain. Her presence adds a biting layer to the film’s commentary on debt, alienation, and the quiet war between owners and renters.

The first half is excellent, turning housing anxiety into something suffocating and paranoid. Every creak and bang feels like an assault, and the film nails the claustrophobia of financial ruin and social isolation. But as U Sung’s desperation escalates, the film starts piling on conspiracies, tech twists, and bursts of violence that feel more like escalation for escalation’s sake. What begins as a tight, psychological spiral gradually loses its focus, dragging itself to an underwhelming finish.

In essence, "Wall To Wall" remains worth a watch for Kang Ha-neul’s performance alone. The film sparks with moments of brilliance, but too many short circuits keep it from truly lighting up.


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SIDENOTE:

Inter-floor noise isn’t just a mild annoyance but a serious issue in Korea, where most people live in high-rise apartments with thin walls. Everyday sounds like kids running, furniture dragging, or late-night washing machines can feel unbearable, leading to frequent disputes between neighbors. Complaints about floor noise have exploded over the past decade, jumping from just under 9,000 cases in 2012 to more than 33,000 formal complaints by 2024. The mediation centers meant to handle these disputes are swamped, and most cases take months to resolve, with only a small fraction ending in genuine reconciliation. Surveys show that nearly nine out of ten residents admit to feeling constant irritation because of their neighbors’ noise, and more than half have argued or fought over it at least once.

What makes this worse is how often it turns violent. Police data shows a shocking rise in serious crimes tied to floor-noise disputes, with incidents jumping from 11 reported cases in 2016 to 110 by 2021. Some of these confrontations have ended in tragedy, where families were attacked in their own homes, arson incidents sparked by months of simmering resentment, and fatal stabbings triggered by nothing more than footsteps overhead. In one infamous case in 2022, a man in Incheon stabbed an entire family after enduring three months of what he called “torturous” noise from above.

The government has tried to intervene, enforcing strict decibel limits (43 dB during the day, 38 at night) and requiring newer apartments to use thicker slabs and better insulation. In theory, no apartment should pass inspection if noise exceeds 49 dB. But in practice, enforcement is weak, and older buildings, where most of these disputes happen, are rarely retrofitted with better soundproofing. Even in brand-new apartments, residents still report constant thumping, dragging, and muffled conversations. For Koreans, this isn’t just an inconvenience, but is a social wound.

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