Noise is a cracker of an audio-visual experience, keeping its audience not only on the edge of their seat but also on their toes. Kim Soo-jin’s debut film leaves an terrifying impression on you thanks to some sublime sound design.
Ju-Young (Lee Sun-bin) has a complicated relationship with her sister Ju-hee (Han Soo-a). Still, when Ju-hee goes missing from her apartment one night, Ju-Young endeavours to find her and, despite her impaired hearing, to also discover what is causing the noises in her sister’s apartment that are making the building’s inhabitants act so strangely.
Anyone who has lived in an apartment block of any form will tell you that noisy neighbours upstairs are an utter headache (literally). Banging and bashing about at all hours, hell, even the person below can make a racket. It is all the worse when the build is old and poorly made; you hear EVERYTHING. So, this is where Noise takes us, down the path of what happens when that noise and the people affected by it become unnaturally aggressive.
Noise hooks you in right off the bat with a killer opening scene, setting the tone perfectly for a terror-filled, sensory-filled nightmare of a film. What works so well here is that horror undercurrent is there while also venturing into mystery-thriller territory. In this mystery-thriller aspect, the film quite clearly takes joy in leaving us guessing, in letting us build a thought or prediction, only for it to be stamped out a few scenes later. It’s a welcome break from the familiarity of some plots we see in some modern horrors.
Paranoia remains a key theme throughout the film because of one main reason: these neighbours do not know each other. Some pass through as renters, but no one really knows one another. Those who own their apartments are snobbish to the renters, while no one is happy with the state the buildings have gotten into. How no one hears the man who keeps going to Ju-young’s apartment at night, bashing and yelling at the door, is a mystery, especially when, during the day, they are all too ready to complain about the noises others are producing. Having moments like this allows for those mystery elements to build, for us to ponder what is really going on and if, perhaps, something is being hidden.
Director Kim Soo-jin never wants us to feel comfortable, from dreading nightfall to what might happen to our lead character, to us not trusting a single person she interacts with. We are constantly on edge for her, and as the terror ratchets up more and more, we not only become concerned for her but begin to wonder if what she has experienced has gotten her too close to the mental edge. With exceptional filmmaking like this, Noise will not be the last we hear from Kim Soo-jin as a feature director.
Park Yong-ki and Park Jin-hong have outdone themselves with their sound design here in Noise. There are certain sounds produced here that are simply going to have you wishing you had never heard them in real life. You will be more aware of noises around your home at night. Is there a reason for that random tapping? What is that neighbour getting up to? It’s a testament to their work and collaboration with Kim Soo-jin that they also refrain from overusing specific sounds, so when they are utilised, you are genuinely spooked by them.
Complimenting the terrific sound design is Jun Hong-kyu’s constantly tense cinematography. There are shots here that are so purposeful to lead our eyes into the darkness, to desperately search for where a possible scare might come from, that it tenses you up even more. One such scene, later in the film, features a character in the basement, with the camera pointed off to the left of them as if taunting the viewer. It’s fantastic how such tricks can suck even the most experienced of genre fans in.
Even when Kim Soo-jin adds perhaps too many ideas to his story, you are still all in on what Noise is giving us. Some additions to what is happening in the building could easily be removed with no overall effect on the film’s outcome. Yet, because of how well everything works in tandem with each other in the film, you let it slide, as it doesn’t particularly hurt the film in the slightest. The film is firmly having its cake and eating it, and when the cake is this good, you let them go for it and gorge a little.
That said, there is some particularly excellent writing here that does set us up for situations down the line. The use of Ju-young’s hearing aid isn’t overly cheap; it serves a great purpose and is effectively utilised throughout Noise. Equally, little lines are utilised that make sense later on, such as a character telling Ju-young that they are alike. You don’t fully understand it until later on, but when
There is good reason to suggest that a horror film hasn’t utilised its sound design to create a terrifying audio-visual experience, as well as Alex Noyer’s Sound of Violence. It’s a film that puts us right there with our characters, listening as carefully as possible for anything that might give us a millisecond’s worth of a head start in being ready for the scare.
How well does Noise immerse you? At one point, this writer’s stupid ass tried to look around a character’s head to see if someone or something was standing directly behind them. For a feature debut, this is such a strong outing. The film is not only engaging, but an entertaining and legitimately scare watch. Don’t miss out on this.
★★★★ 1/2
For more of our coverage of Fantasia International Film Festival 2025, please check out the reviews below!
Noise
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