[HanCinema's Feature] HanCinema's Top 5 Movies For December 2022

Fifth place for the tracking period of November 3rd to December 1st is "Fetish" from 2008. "Fetish" is a weird movie that has a few things going for it. First, and most obviously, it has a weird, sexually charged title. This certainly grabs attention, although it's fairly difficult to search for. Amazon Prime has it, if you're interested in the single most experimental film in Song Hye-kyo's career, a festival circuit piece where she plays a migrant bride to the United States. Spooky religious stuff is involved.

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Fourth place is "Project Wolf Hunting" from September of this year. This much more mainstream film also made its rounds on the festival circuit, and HanCinema's own Panos reviewed it here, describing it as brutal and absurd in its hyperviolence. Domestic audiences in South Korea weren't so impressed- the film fell short of half a million admissions. But the movie seems to be getting a second wind in international markets, as seen by its continuing popularity on HanCinema.

Third place is "Ditto 2022" from November. "Ditto 2022" looks to end its box office run just short of half a million admissions like "Project Wolf Hunting" did. But the numbers are more impressive considering "Ditto 2022" is a hyper-local project. "Ditto 2022" is a remake of "Ditto" from 2000, although it might be more accurate to call the fantasy melodrama an update to the premise, a love story through time, space, and radio. No word yet on an international release for this one.

Second place is "Gangnam Zombie" which is set to be released on January 5th. As the title implies, this is a movie about zombies, in the Gangnam district of Seoul. Jiyeon of T-ara as the leading lady is probably driving much of the popularity, although it's also true that we haven't seen a South Korean zombie flick in awhile. Ironically, the increased interest is probably why the movie was delayed a month from its original November 30th release, so that what was formerly though of as a niche project could receive a more serious marketing push.

Lastly, the winner for this month's most popular movie is "Decibel" which was released right in the middle of the tracking period. One thing that really helps maintain the movie's publicity on HanCinema is the steady stream of new images we've been getting. The story deals with a submarine commander tracking down a terrorist. "Decibel" is bombastic and exciting- not a huge hit, with total admissions of around eight hundred thousand. Although really, with the South Korean film market still COVID-depressed, nothing is a big hit these days.

Written by William Schwartz