2/5 stars
Hong Kong director Soi Cheang Pou-soi’s 2009 thriller Accident wields a premise so effective in its simplicity that it could unfold almost anywhere. The only real surprise is that it has taken 15 years for the first international remake to emerge, and it comes not from Hollywood but from South Korea.
The situation is made worse by the high-profile nature of their next target, a prominent political figure (played by Kim Hong-pa), whose daughter (played by Jung Eun-chae) wants him sidelined permanently.
As the media circus surrounding their target escalates, Young-il grows suspicious that a mysterious insurance broker, Lee Chi-hyun (Lee Moo-saeng), might be conspiring with the rest of his own team.
Key to Accident’s success was the stripped-down simplicity of its execution, which put to bed concerns surrounding the implausible, Heath Robinson-esque murders it depicts through sheer, stone-faced commitment to the task at hand.
Korean cinematic sensibilities demand more bravura. The Plot complicates its premise significantly, staging more ostentatious accidents, inserting a dizzying number of confusing flashbacks, and introducing myriad peripheral characters; and everything is set to a pounding, headache-inducing score.
Buried somewhere deep within The Plot is a strand of legitimate social commentary about the public’s festering distrust of traditional institutions like government, big business, and the media, and how we would rather indulge fringe voices who peddle baseless, sensationalist conspiracy theories instead.
If Lee succeeds in articulating anything substantive on this subject, however, it is accidental. Much like the murders carried out so meticulously on-screen, everything quickly becomes covered in gloss and mired in chaos.