CEAS | “Next Door” Wisconsin Film Festival

Chan-woo has the problems you might expect any young student to have. He has trouble passing exams, his bank account is empty, he sometimes goes overboard on beer, and he puts up with noisy neighbors in his apartment building as he studies. After an all-night bender, however, Chan-woo finds himself facing a new problem that makes all others pale in comparison: he wakes up, bruised and confused, in his neighbor’s apartment. There, he discovers a body lying in a pool of blood on the floor. At this point, Next Door kicks into high gear. Can Chan-woo find clues to help him identify the body? Can he piece together his hazy memories of the previous night? Can he be sure that no one will enter the apartment and misunderstand his presence there? And can he solve his predicament in time to turn in an important application by its evening deadline? Taking place almost entirely in one apartment, Next Door is imaginatively packed with moment after moment of surprise and suspense. Director Yeom Ji-ho expertly blends the film’s thrills with a palpable sense of playfulness, lending a funhouse atmosphere to Next Door’s many devilish twists and turns.

Narrative • South Korea • 2022 • Korean with English subtitles • 93 MIN
Director: Yeom Ji-ho Cast: Oh Dong-min, Choi Hee-jin, Lee Jung-hyun