'Handsome Guys,' 'A Quiet Place: Day One' and other films to see in cinemas

Movies

Published: 04 Jul. 2024, 16:39 Updated: 04 Jul. 2024, 16:56

'Handsome Guys,' 'A Quiet Place: Day One' and other films to see in cinemas

Still cut from ″Handsome Guys″ [NEXT ENTERTAINMENT WORLD]

Handsome Guys (15)
Comedy, Horror / 101 mins. / Korean / June 26

The two guys may not be handsome in the conventional sense, but they sure are funny.

Two men, who refer to themselves as “handsome guys,” move to the countryside for a quiet life. Jae-pil, played by Lee Sung-min, and Sang-koo, played by Lee Hee-jun, have rather eccentric takes on fashion and a delusional level of narcissism, but they don’t exactly seem evil to the people of the town. If anything, the two men mind their own business, excited about starting their new lives.

What is evil, however, is the house that they bought. It turns out there is an evil spirit that haunts their dwelling. Not only that, after the duo saves Mina, played by Gong Seung-yeon, from drowning, they are misunderstood as kidnappers by the townspeople. Will the duo ever find peace?

“Handsome Guys” is directed by Nam Dong-hyeop. The film is a Korean remake of the 2010 black comedy horror film “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil,” directed by Eli Craig. “Handsome Guys” was produced by film production studio Hive Media Corp, which produced the films “Inside Men” (2015), “The Man Standing Next” (2020) and “12.12: The Day” (2023).

Still cut from ″A Quiet Place: Day One″ [LOTTE CINEMA]

A Quiet Place: Day One (15)
Thriller, Horror, Sci-fi / 99 mins. / English / June 26

Stay quiet, your life may depend on it.

Samira, played by Lupita Nyong'o, is enjoying the last moments of her life in peace outside the city. She is terminally ill with cancer, living out her time left with her cat, Frodo. She decides to venture into the urban jungle for a marionette show one day. Little does she know what will be in store for her after arriving in the city.

Asteroids fall from the sky and aliens crawl out from craters, killing everything in sight. The creatures have ultra-sensitive hearing, which means that making noise results in a swift death. Will Samira make it out of the city alive, or will she inevitably fail to live up to the impossible task of complete silence?

“A Quiet Place: Day One,” directed by Michael Sarnoski, is the third installment of the “A Quiet Place” (2018-) film series. The film is a spin-off and prequel to the first installment of the series. Sarnoski has previously directed the drama film “Pig” (2021) and documentary “The Testimony” (2015).

Still cut from ″Will you please stop, please″ [SEOUL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL]

Will you please stop, please (ALL)
Drama / 63 mins. / Korean / July 10

Hye-in, played by Kim Yeon-kyo, looks like your ordinary office worker, but she is in a rather unfortunate situation. She is still the youngest in the company she works at despite being five years into her job. Hye-in works in a rather peculiar workplace, which is a Buddhist publishing house located in a Buddhist temple.

But it seems Buddhism is still not enough to iron out all the ills of Korean office life. There are still office villains, boredom with the job and the ever-present pressure of late night shifts. With all of her colleagues being older than her, will the young office worker ever be satisfied with the job she has?

“Will you please stop, please” was directed by Kim Eun-young, who previously directed the films “Secondhand, Paul” (2016), “A Dancer on a Plain” (2020) and “Breathe” (2022). “Will you please stop, please” is based on the 2020 novel of the same name by writer Hey Song, who also participated as the screenwriter for the film.

Still cut from ″Hijack 1971″ [SONY PICTURES KOREA]

Hijack 1971 (12)
Disaster, Thriller / 100 mins. / Korean / June 21

Things go south, ironically, by going north.

The year is 1971. Tae-in, played by Ha Jung-woo, a former Air Force pilot, is flying a commercial airline. What seems like another day’s job goes completely wrong when the plane is hijacked by Yong-dae, played by Yeo Jin-goo. A bomb has gone off and the plane is in absolute chaos. Crew members Captain Kyu-sik, played by Sung Dong-Il, and flight attendant Ok-Soon, played by Chae Soo-bin, also try their best to keep order, but this is no ordinary hijacker.

Yong-dae does not want money like the typical terrorist. His request is simple yet terrifying; fly the plane to North Korea. Kyu-sik has lost an eye to the bomb blast, and the situation is in complete disarray. Will Tae-in fulfill his job as a captain and get his passengers to safety?

“Hijack 1971” is based on a true story of the Korean Air's F27 flight hijacking incident of 1971. This is the first directorial debut of Kim Sung-han, who has previously been the assistant director for the films “Asura: The City of Madness” (2016) and “1987: When the Day Comes” (2017)

Still cut from ″Monkey Man″ [UNIVERSAL PICTURES]

Monkey Man (19)
Action / 121 mins. / English / June 19

John Wick is over, but there is another action thriller ready to take up its mantle.

In a remote forest village of India, a boy grows up listening to the folk tales his mother tells him. But a corrupt police bureaucrat, Rana, played by Sikandar Kher, comes down to the village and massacres the boys’ family and friends when he doesn’t get his way. The mother dies in front of the boy’s eyes as Rana sets her on fire, and there is no going back. The boy grows up into a hurt and vengeful adult named Kid, played by Dev Patel.

The spiteful Kid works as a heel for an underground fight club, being the bad man that the audience boos at, known as the Monkey Man for his monkey mask. But one day, the corrupt police chief he knows steps into the club, and Kid begins plotting his revenge. The screams of his family and friends well alive in his head, will he finally be able to quiet the voices down?

Dev Patel stars as the protagonist of “Monkey Man” but also is the director for the film. Patel first stepped into the limelight with 2008 film “Slumdog Millionaire,” playing the protagonist Jamal Malik. “Monkey Man” is his directorial debut.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]