This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, films like this one wouldn’t exist.

Directed by Yong-ki Jeong. Written by Horang, Yong-ki Jeong, Soyoung Lee, Kôji Shiraishi & Hiroshi Takahashi

For his latest feature director Yong-ki Jeong adapts the terrifying ninth episode of webtoon comic Horang’s Nightmares, entitled The Ghost of Oksu Station. The story begins similarly, as a young man arrives at a deserted station for the last train, only to see a strange girl stumbling around. Believing she’s drunk he photographs her to mock on a group chat, though matters worsen when she begins hurting herself. As the shocked man discusses the situation via the chat, he soon realises the girl has vanished and inspects something on the train tracks.

The inciting incident at Oksu is witnessed by public service worker Woo-won (Jae Hyun Kim), who enlists the help of his reporter friend Kim Na-young (Bo-ra Kim) so they can uncover the truth behind the station’s mysterious deaths. After being sued for an article she wrote, Na-young intends to find a story that will drive up clicks and redeem her in her employer’s eyes; but as she covers the cursed events at Oksu the sensationalised coverage emboldens people to tempt fate by attending for online clout, treating the site in tactless ways.

That Horang’s webtoon serves as the starting point for this J-Horror-style mystery from South Korea is unsurprising, given that the screenplay was worked on by Ringu scribe Hiroshi Takahashi. Despite its promising setup however the film is sadly let down by its execution: spooky sequences often play with inspired ideas – such as a camera detecting movement in the dark – yet are undone by half-hearted jump scares. And then there’s the jarring treatment of a trans character who is constantly misgendered.

Unfortunately the cumulative impact of these issues lessens what could have been an interesting tale about unearthing long buried sins.

© James Rodrigues

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